Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun visits Algeria in effort to bolster bilateral ties

The National

4 days ago

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is on a two-day state visit to Algeria, in a move aimed at revitalising bilateral relations and reinforcing Lebanon's diplomatic engagement with the Arab world.
He is accompanied by Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji and Information Minister Paul Morcos, according to a statement from the Lebanese presidency.
It marks the first official visit by a Lebanese president to Algeria since Emile Lahoud travelled to the North African nation in 2002. In 2013, then-President Michel Sleiman made a brief technical stop in Algiers, where he was received at the airport by Algerian counterpart Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
This week's visit is being framed as a strategic step intended to reinvigorate co-operation across sectors, particularly energy.
Lebanese media have reported that several agreements are expected to be signed, including collaborations in oil and gas. The trip may also pave the way for establishing a direct flight route between Beirut and Algiers.
Since taking office in January, Mr Aoun – a former commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces – has prioritised restoring Lebanon's ties with Arab nations as a cornerstone of his foreign policy. In his inaugural address, he underscored a commitment to strengthening alliances with Arab and Gulf partners, judicial and economic reform and consolidating the state's monopoly on arms.
His diplomatic agenda has so far included high-level visits to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, and most recently to Bahrain, where plans were finalised to establish a permanent Bahraini diplomatic mission in Beirut and expand bilateral co-operation.
These successive visits reflect an effort to reset ties with the broader Arab world, re-establish confidence and secure crucial support as Lebanon grapples with a deep-rooted economic crisis that began in 2019 and the aftermath of a year-long war between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
The international community has tied major aid and investment to comprehensive reforms and the disarmament of non-state forces, chiefly Hezbollah and Palestinian factions.
In February, Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf visited Beirut, where met with Mr Aoun.
Relations between Beirut and Algiers have experienced ups and downs.
Algeria has offered Lebanon support in recent years. In 2024, it donated 30,000 tonnes of fuel oil – enough to generate 250 megawatts of electricity for about 20 days – after the country's only remaining operational power plant in Zahrani shut down because of fuel shortages.
Lebanon's electricity sector has been crumbling for about three decades given a lack of investment and corruption, failing to provide round-the-clock electricity.
The country has a complex history with Algeria's national state-owned oil company Sonatrach.
In 2020, the company ended its fuel supply contract with Lebanon after a high-profile scandal exposed deep corruption and mismanagement within Lebanon's energy sector.
The contract, signed in 2005 and renewed several times, had allowed Sonatrach's offshore unit to supply fuel oil for Lebanon's power plants.
However, in early 2020, Lebanese authorities launched an investigation revealing that the supplied fuel was substandard and failed to meet required specifications. The scandal implicated several officials at Électricité du Liban (EDL), the Ministry of Energy and Customs, leading to a wave of arrests, including ministry staff and representatives from the local subcontractor.
The deal, for which terms were kept secret for 15 years, was initially thought to be a state-to-state agreement. However, a Lebanese judicial investigation revealed that Sonatrach's subsidiary actually subcontracted the delivery to private companies, which were accused of falsifying laboratory results and bribery.
Sonatrach denied any involvement in shipping tainted fuel. The Algerian presidency described the case as a 'Lebanese-Lebanese issue' in which Algeria was not involved.