7 days ago
The fragmentation of decision-making sources in Paris portends something more dangerous
The words and actions of the French authorities do not entirely align when it comes to relations with Algeria. While both French President Emmanuel Macron and his Foreign Minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, claim to be keen on relations with Algeria, other French institutions adopt a different approach, leading to doubts about the intentions of decision-makers in Paris.
A statement from the Algerian Council of the Nation, headed by Mr. Azzouz Nasseri, addressed to its French counterpart following the latter's repeated provocations towards Algeria, confirmed that the French authorities do not intend to put bilateral relations back on track, as long as there are responsible parties in Paris working to sabotage these relations.
When an Algerian stance is issued that sovereignly defends the Algerian state, voices rise in the former colony, condemning what they consider 'Algeria's insult to France,' a famous phrase uttered by French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau last January, when an Algerian national was deported outside the laws and diplomatic norms in force between the two countries, which are governed by bilateral agreements.
Days after the French Senate received the terrorist fugitive from Algerian justice, Ferhat Mehenni, for the second time in less than a month, some French circles emerged lamenting what they claimed were the pressures faced by the French embassy in Algeria, exactly as happened after Algeria expelled 12 employees from the French embassy in Algiers, in response to the showy arrest of an Algerian consular official in Paris, outside of laws and norms.
The French are now talking about pressures they claim their embassy and its annexes in Algeria are facing, in the latest leak from an unnamed French diplomat, reported by Le Monde on Tuesday, June 3, in an article titled: 'The French Embassy in Algeria is under pressure and restriction.'
The French newspaper quotes the diplomat as saying: 'The Algerian authorities operate according to verbal notes, according to current diplomatic terms. Messages written by the embassy are sent to one entity, which is the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.' The same source claims: 'During periods of peace in bilateral relations, fax replies only arrived in half of the cases, without anyone knowing whether that was due to bad faith or simply due to local administrative shortcomings, so imagine what that means in times of crisis!'
The same source also spoke about the isolation experienced by the embassy's economic center, 'Business France,' which has an office there. It is deprived, the source adds, of official relations, and therefore cannot organize professional meetings or discuss investment projects, while its role is limited to analyzing the development of the Algerian market without any influence on stakeholders, especially in light of economic deterioration and a 21 percent decline in French exports to Algeria in the first quarter of 2025.
They also lament the halt of cultural activities affiliated with the embassy, the difficulty of obtaining visas for French artists wishing to perform in Algeria, and the restriction on the French language, through the shift to teaching medicine and pharmacy in English instead of French, and before that, the cessation of police and judicial cooperation between the two countries.
However, they ignore the reasons that led to this situation, after the visit of French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot to Algeria on April 6, which had re-established bridges of communication between the two countries at all levels.
The only entity that remained unaffected by the restrictions, according to Le Monde, is the French consulate, which continues to respond to civil status requests, ensure consular protection for French citizens, and process visa applications submitted by individuals, according to the diplomatic source, who warned that this crisis, if it continues, could lead to 'structural effects on the relationship between France and Algeria,' in his words.
