The Franco-Algerian relationship may well be cyclical, subject to the regular alternation of quarrels and rapprochements – a legacy of a colonial history where political divisions were mixed with human interweaving – but the zone of turbulence that the link between Paris and Algiers leaves the most optimistic disarmed. The latest crisis, born this summer from the dispute around Western Sahara and amplified since mid-November 2024 by the arrest of the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, seems to escape any force of recall, at least in the short term. term.
The remarks made on Monday January 6 by Emmanuel Macron questioning “honor” of Algeria in the Sansal affair have further added to the animosity. “The Algeria that we love so much and with which we share so many children and so many stories is entering into a story that dishonors it, preventing a seriously ill man from getting treatment. It’s not up to what it is.”declared the Head of State in front of the French ambassadors gathered at the Elysée. The mere fact that Mr. Macron came out of his reserve on this issue to openly criticize Algiers' action is an indication of the new climate.
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