Paris, 19th November 2025
French President Emmanuel Macron will meet with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on the sidelines of the G20 summit in South Africa later this week, French newspaper Journal du Dimanche reported, citing sources.
While tensions between France and Algeria remain high, Macron will meet with Tebboune this upcoming weekend on the sidelines of the G20 summit, the newspaper said on Tuesday. The G20 summit will take place in Johannesburg on November 22-23. Relations between Paris and Algiers have deteriorated sharply. In late 2024, award-winning Algerian author Boualem Sansal, who obtained French citizenship in 2024, was detained in Algeria.
In late March, he was sentenced to five years of imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 Algerian dinars ($3,800) for allegedly attacking national unity, participating in actions that harm the Algerian economy and distributing videos that threaten the country's security and stability. Macron urged Algeria to release Sansal, but his call was considered an interference in Algeria's internal affairs by the country's foreign ministry.
On Tuesday, Sansal’s support committee announced that the Franco-Algerian writer has returned to France, a week after being pardoned by the Algerian government. Sansal had been staying in Germany following his release. Journal du Dimanche reported on Tuesday that the upcoming meeting between Macron and his Algerian counterpart is expected to mark the beginning of a thaw in relations between the two countries.
The crisis in relations between France and Algeria arose after Paris recognised Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara, while Algeria demands a referendum on the territory's self-determination. In early October 2024, Algerian export-import licensing agency Algex informed companies that it would no longer issue permits for products imported from France and urged them to seek alternative suppliers.
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