SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS AT EMBASSY IN ALGIERS, ALGERIA

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Remarks at Embassy Algiers Meet and Greet

Remarks

John Kerry
Secretary of State

Algiers, Algeria

April 3, 2014

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AMBASSADOR ENSHER: Ladies and gentlemen – (applause) – thank you. I’ll just introduce the Secretary of State and let him say as he wishes, so – sir, you’ve been introduced. You may – do you want to speak from here there?

SECRETARY KERRY: Oh, thank you very much. Look what I got. I love it. (Laughter.) What’s her name, what’s her name? Who?

PARTICIPANT: Anna-Lisa (ph).


SECRETARY KERRY: Anna-Lisa (ph), thank you. Anna-Lisa (ph). Thank you very much.

PARTICIPANT: You’re welcome.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you. Can I give you that to hold?

Well, Wishrakum. I’m happy to be here with all of you. (In French.) I am really sorry that we got delayed. I had a phone call, and it was one of those calls where you can’t get the other person to realize the call’s over. Anyway, I am really happy to see you all. Thank you very, very much for this. I’m very grateful to our ambassador, Henry Ensher, and what a terrific job he does. Twenty-seven years in the service, and he’s still going at it and he brings enormous expertise to this challenge. Mr. Ambassador, we’re very grateful to you. Thank you for all that you do.

AMBASSADOR ENSHER: Team projects, sir.

SECRETARY KERRY: Team what?

AMBASSADOR ENSHER: Team projects, sir.

SECRETARY KERRY: Team projects. All right, well we believe in that.
Listen, let me just – I’m very late and I do apologize for that to all of you, and thank you for waiting patiently so I could have a chance to not just say hello, but most importantly have a chance to be able to say thank you to every single one of you.

We are deeply grateful. How many of you are local employees? Raise your hands. Well, look at that. Wow. I think we have – thank you – (applause). We – there is no way for us to be able to do our job unless you are here to help us, every single one of you. (In French). How many of you are speaking French still? No? Nobody? A couple? (Laughter.) I know it’s going out of vogue.
But I really thank you because you take on a very difficult task of helping another country to represent itself in your country, so sometimes the things that people think about us fall on you. And we appreciate very much your willingness to be part of our efforts.

Also, I obviously want to thank all of the Foreign Service officers, Civil Service, various agencies who are working here in a team effort within the Department, within the Embassy. And I thank the TDY-ers and political appointees and everybody who make up this incredible team that helps us to represent our interests in another country, but also importantly helps us connect to the interests of that country so we’re doing also what is important to the nation that we’re in.

In Algeria, you all are representing really one of the most fascinating and important countries in all of Africa – not just North Africa, but a country that has resources, a civil society, intelligent, experienced people, people who fought for their freedom, people who understand what independence means, people who are deeply committed to counterterrorism and to stability. This is a very important place.

And we are trying in this visit to help build a number of different things. First, try to build our security relationship so that we can do more with Algeria in the field of stability, counterterrorism. We have Mali, Niger, Chad, the issues, obviously, out west in Sahara, the challenge of al-Qaida. There’s an enormous amount on the table, and of course Libya, Tunisia, all of this is critical to us – the Sahel, the Maghreb, moving on into the Levant – there’s just an enormous amount of turmoil and change, transition. And we want that to turn out in a way that provides for the stability of the region and for the ability of people here to live the lives the way they’d like to live them.

Part of doing that is the second part of what we’re talking about here, and that’s the economic and development side. We got to create jobs for unbelievable numbers of young people. And those young people need to find a future in education, in jobs, in opportunity, or it’s hard to build stability.

And the final piece of it is the people-to-people programs that are part of all of that. You have the Let’s Chat program here, and you’re trying to help people be able to learn how – you’re in the Let’s Chat program. There she is, all right. But the point is, as people gain language skills, they gain employability, they gain an ability to enlarge their income and their lives.
And speaking of income, I am proud to come here and tell you today that the pay freeze has ended. You’re going to get your pay raise as of now. That’s starting, all right? (Applause.) There you go. Most important news I could have delivered. (Laughter.) Anyway, I’m really happy to be able to share that with you.

Bottom line is this – you’ve all been standing around a long time, I don’t want to give a long speech – there are about, I think, 100 and some of you here who – or 95 or so or who’ve come – 65, I guess, it is – who’ve come from other – from America and they’re over here. And then a large Embassy, 400 and some people when you add everybody who’s working locally. But you’re all a team. Every single one of you is an ambassador. Everything you do, whether it’s a telephone call or an interview in the consular division or outreach when we got to an event, you’re the face of America. And you’re helping us to reach people and to try to make sure we address the very values that brought you to this kind of service in the first place.

So I really thank you. President Obama is proud of our diplomatic corps. He mentioned it in his last State of the Union. All the people who don’t wear uniforms but are on the front lines, a lot of you make sacrifices to be here, and I just want you to know that as long as I’m Secretary of State I will have your back, and I know I can count on you to cover our back, too.
Thank you all, and God bless. Thank you. (Applause.)

ROUNDTABLE WITH JOURNALISTS IN ALGIERS

  View From Algiers Of The Mediterranean Sea .  Credit:  CIA World Factbook.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

December 6 Roundtable with Journalists in Algiers
Remarks
William J. Burns
Deputy Secretary
Algiers, Algeria
December 6, 2012
Deputy Secretary Burns: Good evening everyone.

It’s a pleasure to see all of you this evening and it’s certainly a pleasure to be back in Algiers, which I’ve visited many times over the years. This visit, coming soon after the visit of Secretary Clinton and the U.S. Algeria Strategic Dialogue earlier this fall, is another opportunity to strengthen our constructive and strategically important bilateral relationship. I had excellent and wide-ranging discussions earlier today with President Bouteflika, the Prime Minister, and other senior Algerian officials.

We continue to work together to deepen our ties with the government and the people of Algeria across a broad, mutually beneficial agenda, including, trade and investment, security cooperation, diplomatic partnership, democratic reform, and cultural and educational programs.

In the past year, Algeria has taken further steps to strengthen its democracy. We were encouraged by the roughly 21 million Algerian voters who participated in elections earlier this year to determine who would occupy the National Popular Assembly. These elections - and I would note the high number of women elected- were a welcome step in Algeria’s progress toward democratic reform.

Algeria has dealt with terrorism on its own territory and was one of the first countries to condemn the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. Since that time, we have intensified contacts in key areas of mutual concern and are encouraged by Algeria’s strong support of international counterterrorism efforts, including our partnership in the Global Counterterrorism Forum.　 The rise in terrorist and criminal activity in the northern Sahel is a threat to the entire region and beyond. We applaud Algeria’s resolve to stem the proliferation of weapons, drugs, and fighters across the Sahel, and strongly support these efforts.

Our two countries share concern over instability in Mali and its negative impact on regional security. We call on all of Mali’s neighboring countries to increase their border patrols to curb the flow of arms, drugs, fuel, and fighters into Mali. We support efforts to facilitate a political dialogue with non-extremist groups in northern Mali. We understand Burkina Faso in its role as lead mediator for ECOWAS is preparing a framework for negotiations. We continue to call for a coordinated international effort to accelerate the beginning of serious political talks between the rebel groups and the interim Government of Mali. Algeria has an important role to play in this process.

The United States highly values our relationship with the Government and people of Algeria, and is committed to deepening our cooperation in the months and years ahead.

And now I am glad to take questions. Please.

Question from Hacene Ouali (El Watan): My question is on Mali, there is a talk on Political solution or a military solution; is the U.S. in favor of a military intervention in the north of Mali? Thank you

Deputy Secretary Burns: There are a number of different dimensions to the challenge in Mali today: Political crisis within Mali; a humanitarian crisis resulting in refugees and internally displaced persons; and a security crisis which is a shared concern of the United States and Algeria, particularly the danger of violent extremist groups using northern Mali as a safe haven. A successful strategy to deal with all those challenges also has to have several dimensions. We’ve worked with others in the international community to help deal with the humanitarian challenge posed by the refugee crisis. As I said in my opening remarks, we strongly support Algeria’s leadership in fostering political dialogue, including between the Tuareg and the interim Government in Mali. And in response to the security risk posed by the situation in Mali, we certainly support increased counterterrorism cooperation, cooperation with Mali’s neighbors as well as with the interim Government in Mali, and we believe that an African led multinational force supported by the international community may be necessary. Thanks.

Question from Beatrice Khadige (Agence France Presse, AFP): we read a lot of news talking about an opposition between the positions of France and the United States over the Mali issue, could you confirm there are differences or nuances or finally you agree more than what is said? What is exactly the situation?

Deputy Secretary Burns: I just laid out what the American approach is to the crisis in Mali. All I would add is that we work very closely with our partners in France on this challenge and I think we have a shared view of the nature of the threat that’s posed and we look forward to continuing to work closely together in the weeks and months ahead.

Question from Karim Kebir (Liberté):

Good evening. Mr. Burns, your visit coincides with the visits of foreign officials whose countries are interested in the crisis in Mali including the UK envoy and the African Union special envoy and the presence of the members of Ansar al-Din who are negotiating. Have you met with them?

Deputy Secretary Burns:

I had the meetings I described to you before. All I would add is that it’s a mark of the important role that Algeria plays in working with its neighbors and working with the international community to deal with the challenges in Mali that you have so many visitors and envoys here. We believe Algeria’s role in dealing with this crisis is extremely important and we look forward to strengthening our cooperation on this issue.

Question from Béatrice Khadige (AFP):

Do you consider important that Algeria participate along with Mauritania in a West African force, if necessary, to free Northern Mali?

Deputy Secretary Burns:

Algeria can obviously speak for itself in terms of the position that it takes. All I would stress again is that we value greatly Algeria’s role in dealing with the crisis in Mali and the challenges that it poses to the entire region. And we certainly look forward to deepening our cooperation with Algeria as well as with others in the region and the international community in the weeks ahead.

Question from Hacene Ouali (El Watan):

Can we say today that there a convergence of views among all the international actors, i.e. ECOWAS, Algeria, France, and the United States on the solution to the Malian crisis?

Deputy Secretary Burns:

I think there is a great deal of shared concern about the situation in Mali in all of its dimensions in terms of the humanitarian challenges, the political challenges, the security challenges, that it poses. And I do believe that there is an increasing convergence of view amongst the key players in how best to deal with those challenges. And given the urgency of the situation and the nature of the threats we are going to continue to work hard to deepen our cooperation.

So thank you all very much. It’s nice to have the chance to meet with all of you