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On August 7 local time, the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora issued a statement stating that they summoned the acting charge d'affaires of the French Embassy in Algeria and handed over two notes verbales. The statement indicated that in the first note verbale, the Algerian side officially notified the French side of Algeria's decision to terminate the agreement signed in 2013 between the two countries on visa exemptions for holders of diplomatic and consular passports and "immediately demanded that French citizens holding diplomatic and consular passports must obtain visas" and that "Algeria reserves the right to apply the same conditions as the French government to Algerian citizens when issuing such visas." The statement emphasized that this decision by Algeria reflects the principle of reciprocity and expresses Algeria's stance of "rejecting any attempt of provocation, pressure, and blackmail." The statement also indicated that in the second note verbale, Algeria informed France that in order to reflect the principle of balance and reciprocity, "Algeria has decided to terminate the treatment of the free use of Algerian state-owned real estate by the French Embassy in Algeria" and that "the Algerian diplomatic mission in France does not enjoy similar benefits." Algeria invited France to send a delegation to Algeria to negotiate on this issue (CCTV News).