Algiers decided to expel 12 agents from the French Embassy, after the arrest on Friday in Paris of three men, including a consular agent, as part of an investigation for kidnapping.
A revival of tension which leaves the deputy LFI Eric Coquerel wondering if “it is not Bruno Retailleau who tries to take over the file in hand,” he said on TF1 this Monday.
The parliamentarian calls for the tensions between the two capitals again and dismissing the Minister of the Interior from these subjects.
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Diplomatic crisis between France and Algeria
Relations had barely heated, as tensions start again. The Algerian authorities decided to expel within 48 hours 12 officials from the French Embassy (new window) In Algeria, in reaction to the arrest in Paris on Friday arrest of three Algerian nationals, including a consular agent, announced the Quai d’Orsay this Monday, April 14. An unprecedented decision since the country’s independence in 1962. “I call for the two presidents to go again right away”reacted the deputy LFI Eric Coquerel in “Hello! The morning TF1”.
The French Minister of French Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, announced last week the beginning of“A new phase” (new window) For relations between Paris and Algiers, after an interview with the Algerian president Abdelmadjid Tebboune. A few days earlier, the Algerian Head of State had met French President Emmanuel Macron, with whom he had acted the end of a very intense crisis between the two capitals, who has been getting worse for months, during which Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau defended a firm line against Algiers (new window). But in barely a week, the relationships have tense again.
“We can wonder if it is not Bruno Retailleau who tries to take control of the file (new window)when he had been fortunately cornered by the President of the Republic “, advanced on TF1 this Monday Eric Coquerel. “It was obvious that from the moment when there were three members of the Algerian Embassy, there would be reprisals.”
-“We know that Algiers cannot be done,” insists the deputy
The three arrested men are “Algerian nationals”said Jean-Noël Barrot this Monday. Only one of them is an employee in one of the consulates in Algeria in France (new window)according to information at this stage. They were indicted Friday in Paris for arrest, kidnapping and sequestration in particular, according to the French National Anti -terrorist Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) (PNAT), as part of an investigation into the removal at the end of April 2024 on the French soil of an opponent of the Algerian regime (new window).
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“Inadmissible”: new cold between Algiers and Paris after the arrest of an Algerian consular agent
The Algerian reaction is “automatic”reacted the rebellious president of the finance committee of the National Assembly. “We know that Algiers cannot be done”, he insisted. “In this kind of confrontation, it shifts the tone every time you raise the tone.” Before calling “What the two presidents are talking again right away and that we do not let Bruno Retailleau do”. “If we want to go back to the confrontation that the president had fortunately arrested (new window)triggered by Bruno Retailleau for I don’t know what presidential project, because he had to think that it was good to attack Algeria, we continue like that “he might still mock.
Guest on LCI Sunday (new window)the Minister of the Interior returned to the arrest of the three men on Friday. “The kidnapping is proven, including by an individual who works in Créteil at the Consulate General of Algeria”he had launched. On the other hand, he had dismissed a possible interference from the Algerian authorities: “The link with the country is not proven”he added. “We are a sovereign country and we hear that on French soil our rules are respected”also said Bruno Retailleau.
