France suspends visa waiver agreement with Algeria

The crisis between France and Algeria has finally taken on a structural and profound character, marked by a loss of mutual trust and reciprocal diplomatic measures. 

For more than a decade, tensions between Paris and Algiers have strained diplomatic ties, but the final trigger was France's formal suspension of the bilateral visa waiver agreement for diplomatic and service passports, signed in Algiers on 16 December 2013 and promulgated by Decree No. 2014-1003 on 4 September 2014.

The agreement that has been cancelled allowed Algerian diplomats to enter France without a visa for short stays. This facility was part of Paris' efforts to strengthen relations with Algiers, particularly in the areas of security, culture and consular relations.

Algeria's constant refusal to accept Algerian citizens from France with expulsion orders has led the French authorities to suspend the agreement that facilitated the movement of high-level Algerian officials between the two countries.

For months, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has maintained a tough stance of firm reciprocity in response to Algeria's diplomatic actions. It all began when Barrot travelled to Algeria to try to reach an agreement with his Algerian counterpart, Ahmed Attaf, but far from being able to negotiate, Algeria expelled 12 diplomats from the country.

Tensions escalated following France's decision in July 2024 to recognise Morocco's Autonomy Plan, proposed by King Mohammed VI of Morocco, for Western Sahara, a disputed region whose control has been strongly rejected by Algeria, an ally of the separatist Polisario Front movement. This decision was interpreted by Algiers as a hostile act that broke with France's traditional neutrality in the Sahrawi conflict. 

In response to Algeria's move, Barrot has made the visa waiver for Algerians official. ‘Our response is immediate, firm and completely proportionate,’ he said in an interview with Europa Press.

This position is completely contrary to that taken by the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, and the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, who have repeatedly stated that ‘France must be strong and demand respect, but always through dialogue and not through actions that could damage the historical ties between France and Algeria’.

However, Macron is now also seeking the European Union's support in banning Schengen visas for Algerians, a request that Emmanuel Macron activated through the French Ministry of the Interior.

Since it was formalised on 7 August and published on 19 August in the Official Journal, the official France-Visas website already states that Algerian diplomatic passport holders must obtain a visa to enter France.

Faced with this situation, Algeria insists that France violated the bilateral agreement by leaking information to carefully selected media outlets, without using diplomatic channels, a practice it described as ‘curious and dubious’. It recalled that it was France that initially promoted this agreement and is now resorting to suspending it without assuming the consequences.

The Algerian authorities have publicly denounced what they consider to be a ‘policy of pressure and threats’ on the part of France, and affirm that they will not submit to any form of blackmail, which Algiers interprets as a unilateral and unfriendly manoeuvre that only deepens the deterioration of historical ties between the two countries.