Two ministers of the French Government and a former head of the executive are speaking out in the increasingly heated discussions between Paris and Algeria.
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau blamed Algeria on Friday. “Try to humiliate France” The North African country then refused to take in one of its citizens who was in the process of being deported.
Naaman BoualemThe 59-year-old Algerian TikTok content creator, better known as ‘Doualemn’ or ‘Boualem Dz’, arrested in Montpellier last sunday incitement to violence in the videos he published on social networks.
The French Immigration Service deported him on a flight to Algeria on Thursday, but Algeria did not accept thisHe claimed that he was prohibited from entering his territory. The French Ministry of Internal Affairs said that the person was extradited to France in the afternoon.
More similar cases
In recent days, French Police arrested four more Algerian citizens, whom authorities described as: ‘influencers’ He was accused of posting videos encouraging violence on social networks.
This situation created an atmosphere of tense relations. “I want to express my surprise,” Retailleau said Friday. “We have reached a very worrying threshold regarding Algeria. Algeria is trying to humiliate France.”
“This is a new act of aggression… We must examine all means of retaliation at our disposal,” the French minister insisted, considering, for example, the “benefit” of development aid or visa discount For countries that “do not practice reciprocity”.
Bruno Retailleau directly addressed the responsibility of the head of state: “All this must be examined at the highest level by the Government and the president,” continued the owner of Place Beauvau. Emmanuel Macron At the Ambassadors’ Conference, “Algeria’s responsibility was clearly noted”.
Possible retaliation from Paris
“If the Algerians continue to escalate these tensions,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said, France “will have no choice but to retaliate.”
“Tools we can enable” include “visas (…), development aid” and “a number of other fields partnershipBarrot elaborated in the LCI, stating that he was “stunned” by the Algerian authorities’ “refusal to save one of their citizens” whose case was currently “in the French courts”.
About the former French Prime Minister Gabriel AttalIn an article he wrote for ‘Le Figaro’ he reflects: France “must determine borders and ensure balance of power”In particular, condemning the 1968 French-Algerian agreement that provided special advantages to Algerian immigrants. “Although increasingly criticized, no government has so far been able to renegotiate its contents with Algeria,” this right-wing and centre-right newspaper notes in another article.
“It’s time to end the lawsuits” guilt and rent memory… It’s a matter of respect for FranceAttal underlines that he welcomes “a historic opportunity to establish a normal and neutral relationship”: “So let’s take advantage of this to open a new page in our relations with Algeria, based on mutual respect,” Attal writes.
Boualem Sansal and the ‘influencers’ issue
‘Influencers’ case condemned as ‘another controversy’ in Algeria “Blackmail the French”It represents another turning point – in fact, another turning point – in the downward spiral of French-Algerian relations.
Exchanges between Paris and Algeria, never very easy, deteriorated especially after the Second World War. custodyHe was sentenced to prison “without any trial” on November 16, according to his supporters. By French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal. This 80-year-old attacker who criticized the Algerian government “Attack on the integrity of national territory”.
The maximum penalty provided for in Article 87 bis of the Algerian Penal Code, which prosecutes “terrorist or subversive” acts, death penaltyIt is systematically commuted to life imprisonment due to the de facto moratorium in Algeria.
Tension increased after Macron’s conviction and reactions in France
Emmanuel’s statement is as expected Macron what about? Algeria “disgraced itself” Boualem Sansal, on the other hand, has difficulty reaching the opposite shore of the Mediterranean. Algerian diplomats condemned the statements made at the meeting Ambassadors Conference On Monday, January 6, he called them “shameless and unacceptable interference in the internal issue of Algeria.”
ADVERTMany people in France condemn the incident Sansal’s health condition is deteriorating He was still not visited by his French lawyer during his detention and after two months in detention.
However, shortly after Sansal’s arrest, Algeria responded to French concerns about the case through its press agency, stating that Paris had been raped by an “anti-Algerian” and “pro-Zionist” pressure group. The country’s public press agency, Algérie Presse Service, reported on Friday, November 22: “Macronite-Zionist France (…) is disturbed by Sansal’s arrest.”
This case adds to a growing list of friction points between ex-metropolitan and ex-metropolitan colonyWhich was released From the yoke of Paris 1962 After a brutal war.
Support for the solution in Morocco from Emmanuel Macron Autonomy for Western SaharaIn addition to the lack visa symmetry or the policy of the Algerian authorities to suspend the return of Algerian citizens who are frequently held OQTF (obligation to leave French territory) contributes to an endless number of trade disputes; colonial past.
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