“There is the temptation to indulge in settling scores,” warns Dominique de Villepin

“There is only one path, it is that of friendship and respect”, believes the former Prime Minister who calls for “keep your cool” while remaining firm on “our principles”.

In a context of great tensions between France and Algeria, “there is the temptation to indulge in settling scores”analysis Dominique de Villepin Monday January 20 on franceinfo. For the former Prime Minister, this is the most serious crisis between the two countries since the war, it is therefore necessary “show great composure”.

Dominique de Villepin denounces “position punitive” and one “politics of the worst. We have paid through history, dearly enough, to learn that there is only one path, it is that of friendship, it is that of respect and I hopes very strongly for reconciliation because our people deserve it (…) We must be firm on our principles but be able to find the way.”

The former Prime Minister does not give his position on the possible calling into question of the Franco-Algerian agreement of 1968, after the remarks of Bruno Retailleau on Sunday. The Minister of the Interior repeated that France had been “humiliated” by Algeria when this country refused entry into its territory of an Algerian influencer expelled from France. Dominique de Villepin, however, speaks of “misunderstanding since the departure of Interior Ministers who want to resolve issues that can only be resolved through diplomacy in place of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.”

The agreement creates a unique status for Algerian nationals in terms of movement, residence and employment. Their entry is facilitated without the need for a long-stay visa, they can establish themselves freely to exercise a business activity or an independent profession and have faster access to the issuance of a 10-year residence permit. For Dominique de Villepin, “if we wish to re-discuss these agreements, let’s talk about it with the Algerians.”