Algeria re-opens land border with Tunisia after 2 years

On Jul 15, 2022

Algeria has reopened it’s border with Tunisia today after it was shut for more than two years at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune disclosed this while speaking at Algiers airport alongside his Tunisian counterpart, President Kais Saied, who was leaving the country after attending a huge parade marking 60 years since Algeria’s independence from France.

“We have taken the joint decision to reopen the land border from July 15,” said President Tebboune.

He was speaking at Algiers airport alongside his Tunisian counterpart President Kais Saied, who was leaving the country after attending a huge parade marking 60 years since Algeria’s independence from France.

Passengers had been blocked from crossing the border since March 2020 to stop the COVID-19 illness spreading, although cargo traffic had continued.

Being cut off from a neighbour of some 44 million people has dealt a serious blow to Tunisia’s tourism industry.

More than three million Algerians usually visit the country every year, according to local media.

Air and sea links between the two were restored in June 2021.

Algeria is trying to maintain its influence in Tunisia and Libya, two countries where stability was shaken by the “Arab spring” upheaval. Algiers felt its national security was under threat, not only because of the increase in the capabilities of terrorist groups, but also because it resented the military presence on its borders of countries such as France, Turkey and Russia.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune was the first Arab president to call his Tunisian counterpart after Kais Saied’s July 25 suspension of the activities of parliament, the lifting of immunity from members, the dissolution of the government and the assumption of executive powers.

On Tuesday, the Tunisian president visited Algeria to join celebrations of the country’s 60 years of independence from France.

MTO/Guardian