Algerian Prime Minister Sifi Grine made an official visit to Bamako this Monday, appearing alongside junta leader General Assimi Goïta. The meeting was staged as a major step toward strengthening ties between the two Sahelian neighbours, yet the ceremonial display barely conceals a far more tangled diplomatic reality. Behind the warm handshakes and formal speeches, the weight of past tensions and the legacy of the Algiers Accord still hang over a bilateral relationship at its lowest point.

A handshake meant to set things right

The scene was designed to look historic and reassuring. On Monday, the halls of the Koulouba palace hosted the meeting between Algerian Prime Minister Sifi Grine and the head of Mali’s military government, General Assimi Goïta. On the agenda: tightening bilateral ties, security cooperation and revitalising economic exchanges in a Sahel region under heavy strain.

For Algerian diplomacy, the trip reflects a clear desire to regain a foothold in its southern backyard. For Bamako, displaying high-level diplomatic support offers a way out of growing international isolation. Yet this picture of unity struggles to convince seasoned observers.

The heavy baggage of Bamako’s accusations

This sudden brotherly warmth comes after months of an exceptionally intense diplomatic crisis. Not long ago, Mali’s ruling junta piled up sharp complaints against Algiers. In a sovereigntist one-upmanship that became its trademark, the Malian military authorities openly accused their northern neighbour of meddling in internal affairs.

Among Bamako’s repeated grievances were Algeria’s hosting of Malian opposition figures and influential religious actors, and above all the alleged support given to northern separatist rebel groups. By accusing Algiers of harbouring “hostile acts” under the guise of peace intermediaries, the junta sought to point to an external scapegoat to justify the security deadlock and the deteriorating situation on the ground.

A facade alliance facing geopolitical realities

The rapprochement celebrated on Monday looks more like a forced marriage of convenience than a sincere and lasting alliance. Bamako, engaged in a abrupt break with its traditional Western partners and entangled in uncertain regional alliances, is desperately seeking to diversify its diplomatic backing.

Algiers, for its part, cannot tolerate a permanent source of instability on its southern border, which is conducive to the spread of terrorist networks and cross-border trafficking. This one-on-one between Sifi Grine and Assimi Goïta is therefore a matter of pragmatic pragmatism: saving appearances to avoid the point of no return, without erasing the deep mutual resentments that undermine trust between the two governments.

The long shadow of the Algiers Accord: Algiers’ bargaining power

In this muted tug-of-war, Algeria retains an undeniable strategic advantage. Historically seen as the security lock and indispensable mediator of the Sahel, it long set the peace agenda in the region, notably through the 2015 Algiers Accord.

By unilaterally denouncing that agreement in early 2024, Assimi Goïta’s junta thought it was asserting its authority and sweeping away any external tutelage. But the reality on the ground proved very different. Abandoning the Algerian negotiation framework neither restored peace in northern Mali nor eradicated the security threat. By travelling to Bamako today to impose its terms and re-engage dialogue, the Algerian government demonstrates its political centrality: Bamako may try to ignore Algerian diplomacy, but it always ends up having to deal with it.

The limits of military diplomacy

While this ceremonial visit gives General Assimi Goïta a welcome media respite, it solves none of the underlying problems. The Malian junta continues to base its power on security rhetoric while indefinitely postponing a return to democratic constitutional order.

Without a genuine commitment to domestic political stability and without sincerely taking regional balances into account, the promises made at this meeting risk remaining pure communication. Behind the diplomats’ smiles and the rigour of uniforms, the relationship between Bamako and Algiers remains a minefield where each side waits for the other to slip up.