France condemns the expulsion of its officials from Algeria as an ‘incomprehensible’ decision

Despite attempts at reconciliation last April, diplomatic relations between Algeria and France are going through one of their most critical moments in decades. Following the decision by Abdelmadjid Tebboune's Algerian government to expel 15 French diplomats from Algeria, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot described the move as ‘brutal’ and ‘incomprehensible’ and announced that France would respond ‘immediately, firmly and proportionately’. 

‘It is not in the interest of either France or Algeria for this relationship to continue to deteriorate. France has fulfilled its diplomatic obligations and expects the same from its partners,’ French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot. According to the minister himself, relations are ‘frozen,’ as he pointed out in an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde. 

Moments later, at a press conference, Barrot expressed his bewilderment: ‘This decision is unjustifiable from both a diplomatic and a bilateral cooperation point of view. We reiterate our willingness to keep channels open, but we cannot fail to react to an attack on our interests.’ 

The decision did not come as a surprise to the French authorities, as these new expulsions come a week after Algiers, through official sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed the status of 12 of the 15 expelled officials, all of whom belong to the Ministry of the Interior, as persona non grata. All of them, without exception, have been given 48 hours by the Algerian government to leave the country. 

In fact, the decision was communicated days earlier to the chargé d'affaires at the French embassy in Algiers, following an official summons from the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

There are countless reproaches and reasons for mutual mistrust. The first time France received diplomats expelled from Algiers, the Algerian response was that it was in response to the arrest of a consular agent, which degenerated into the recall of the French ambassador to Algeria, Stéphane Romatet. 

Contacts between the two governments were improving thanks to reconciliation efforts led by French President Emmanuel Macron and his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune, but they have failed to achieve their objectives: stability and a relationship based on trust. 

According to the Algerian state news agency APS, Algeria is demanding the ‘immediate repatriation’ of all French officials appointed ‘under irregular conditions’, arguing that standard diplomatic procedures such as official notifications and accreditation requests were not followed. es o las solicitudes de acreditación correspondientes. 

On the other hand, the Algerian authorities have pointed out that France has been blocking the accreditation process for two consuls general, specifically those in Paris and Marseille, for more than seven months. And some information from APS indicates that there may be up to seven more consuls who have been waiting for more than five months. 

Summer 2024, the beginning of the end

On 30 July 2024, in Rabat, King Mohammed VI of Morocco received Emmanuel Macron in a meeting that would change the political context of the Maghreb, as it marked the beginning of France's recognition of the Autonomy Plan for Western Sahara proposed by Morocco in 2007. 

This event marked a turning point for Algeria and, above all, for the Polisario Front, a terrorist organisation sponsored by the SADR and financed by Algeria. Following this, the Algerian government immediately withdrew its ambassador to Paris and began an institutional war by taking hostile measures. 

One of the most high-profile was the arrest of the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, accused of ‘undermining the territorial integrity’ of the country. But with the arrival of the new year, tensions escalated. France began the year with a request for the expulsion of Algerian influencers, a demand that the Algerian authorities rejected. 

Another point of friction has been Algeria's refusal to accept the repatriation of its nationals with expulsion orders in force on French territory (OQTF), a situation that Paris considers unsustainable from a migratory and legal point of view. 

Meanwhile, the international community is watching with concern the deterioration of relations between Algiers and Paris, fearing that this diplomatic conflict will have collateral effects in areas such as counter-terrorism cooperation, migration management and security in the Mediterranean.