Paris Regrets Algeria's Decision to Recall Envoy From Paris - French Foreign Ministry

PARIS (Sputnik) - France regrets Algeria's decision to recall its ambassador in Paris for consultations and makes every effort to maintain and improve the bilateral relations, a spokesperson of the French foreign ministry said on Monday.

On Saturday, Algiers recalled its ambassador to France for consultations after Paris announced tougher visa requirements for Algerian, Tunisian, and Moroccan nationals.

"We have taken note of the recalling of the Algerian ambassador to France for consultations. We regret it [the recall]," the spokesperson said.

At the same time, the spokesperson reaffirmed France's commitment to maintaining the long-standing relations between the nations, and said that Paris was working on further developing bilateral partnerships.

Recently, the relations between the two countries have soured.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune accused French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday of twisting the truth and making remarks that presented "completely rewritten" and "not based on truth" history of the North African nation.

Tebboune described the French leader's statements to the Le Monde newspaper as irresponsible and insulting the memory of people who had died during France's colonial rule of Algeria.