ALGIERS: France said Sunday it had ended months of tensions over a visa dispute with Algeria, just days after Paris and Rabat made a similar announcement.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, on a visit to the capital Algiers, announced a return “to a normal consular relationship” with Algeria, according to a statement posted on Twitter.
In September 2021, Paris reduced visa quotas to its former colonies of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, in a bid to encourage the countries to cooperate against irregular migration.
Paris slashed rates by 30 percent for Tunisia, and 50 percent for Algeria and Morocco, in the hopes the countries would repatriate their citizens living in France as irregular migrants.
The move sparked widespread public anger.
France restored visa rates with Tunisia to pre-Covid levels in August, and on Friday, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said Paris had returned to “full consular cooperation” with Morocco.
Consular ties with both Algeria and Morocco were effective since December 12, Paris has said.
On Sunday, Darmanin praised an “extremely strong relationship” between Paris and Algiers.
France and Algeria mend ties after visa row
https://arab.news/8nnt9
France and Algeria mend ties after visa row
- France reduced visas granted to Algerians, Moroccans and Tunisians last year to encourage countries’ cooperation against irregular migration
Israel reports bird flu outbreak on farm in north, WOAH says
- The outbreak, the first in a year in Israel, was detected in a flock of 2,000 ducks in the village of Sde Yaakov
PARIS: Israel reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu on a farm in the north of the country, the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Tuesday.
The outbreak, the first in a year in Israel, was detected in a flock of 2,000 ducks in the village of Sde Yaakov, causing the death of 90 birds, the Paris-based WOAH said, citing a report from the Israeli authorities. The remaining birds were subsequently culled as a precaution.
The spread of avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has raised concerns among governments and the poultry industry after it ravaged flocks around the world in recent years, disrupting supply, fueling higher food prices and raising the risk of human transmission.
