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Even after the 'visa war,' the bad and the ugly lingers between EU, Global South

Continuing immigration pressures complicate relations for both aging Europe and the nations to the south and east with booming populations.
Greek coastguard rescuers recover a body from the sea off the island of Kythira, at the southern end of the Peloponnese Peninsula on October 9, 2022. (Photo by SAVVAS KARMANIOLAS/AFP via Getty Images)

PARIS — The "visa war" between France and its former North African colonies of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia is over. The hatchet was buried when French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna and Minister of Interior Gerald Darmanin visited Rabat and Algiers in December and declared that “consular issues” were back to normal.

Paris had reduced visas by 50% to Morocco and Algeria, and 30% to Tunisia, because those countries were reluctant to take back more than a handful of their nationals who had illegally reached French territory. The policy hurt the mostly francophone middle and upper middle class of the Maghrib, which regularly visits France for business, education, medical treatment or leisure. It was met in North Africa with furor and promises to sever the privileged relations with France (and Europe) in favor of China, Russia and — in the case of Morocco, a signatory of the Abraham Accords — Israel.

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