The already tense relations between Algiers and Paris are at their worst, while France is demanding the release of the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, imprisoned in his country of birth.
Nothing is going well between Paris and Algiers. The head of French diplomacy Jean-Noël Barrot expressed this Sunday, January 5, “doubts” about Algiers' desire to respect the road map for Franco-Algerian bilateral relations, at a time when tensions between the two countries are at an all-time high. higher.
“We have in 2022 (…) drawn up a road map (…), we want to ensure that (it) can be followed,” declared the Minister of Foreign Affairs during an interview on the radio RTL.
“But we observe postures, decisions on the part of the Algerian authorities which allow us to doubt the intention of the Algerians to stick to this road map. Because to stick to the road map, it takes two,” he added.
“We wish to maintain the best relations with Algeria (…) but this is not the case today,” regretted the French minister.
Arrest of Boualem Sansal
In 2022, after a crisis between Paris and Algiers on the issue of visas granted to Algerian nationals, the French and Algerian heads of state signed in Algiers a promising “declaration for a renewed Partnership between France and Algeria”. But in recent months, several burning issues have once again agitated the already stormy relations between the two sides of the Mediterranean.
The latest episode is that of the incarceration in mid-November of the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, known for his criticism of the Algiers regime. Aged 75, he was transferred to “a prison care unit”, according to his publisher Antoine Gallimard, CEO of the editions of the same name.
The author of 2084: the end of the worldnaturalized French in 2024, is prosecuted under article 87 bis of the penal code, which sanctions “as a terrorist or subversive act, any act targeting state security, territorial integrity, stability and the functioning normal of institutions.
According to Le Mondethe Algerian government criticizes Boualem Sansal in particular for his interview with the French identity site Frontières, in which he notably takes up Morocco's position according to which the territory of the kingdom was truncated under French colonization for the benefit of Algeria.
“Impostor”
At the end of December, in front of parliament, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune mentioned for the first time the arrest of the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, calling him an “imposter” sent by France, according to the information site Algerian TSA.
“You send an impostor who does not know his identity, does not know his father and comes to say that half of Algeria belongs to another state,” he asserted.
For his part, Emmanuel Macron estimated this Monday, January 6 that Algeria “dishonors itself” by not releasing the Franco-Algerian writer. “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. that it is”, he said in front of the French ambassadors gathered at the Élysée.
“And we who love the Algerian people and their history, I urge their government to release Boualem Sansal,” he added.
Already this Sunday, Jean-Noël Barrot declared himself “very concerned by the fact that the request for release sent by Boualem Sansal and his lawyers was rejected.” “France is very attached to freedom of expression, freedom of opinion and considers that the reasons which may have led the Algerian authorities to incarcerate him are not valid,” added the minister.
Tensions around Western Sahara
The arrest of Boualem Sansal comes against a backdrop of strong diplomatic tensions since France recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara last summer. This former Spanish colony is 80% controlled by Morocco but is claimed by the separatists of the Polisario Front, supported by Algeria.
In response, Algiers ordered with “immediate effect” the withdrawal of its ambassador to Paris at the end of July, denouncing a “step that no other French government before it had thought it necessary to take”.
Since then, relations between the two countries have continued to become strained. At the beginning of October, President Tebboune rejected the idea of a visit to Paris. The Algerian president's trip, constantly postponed since May 2023, was most recently planned between the end of September and the beginning of October 2024.
In mid-December, the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the French ambassador to Algiers to send “a severe warning” to Paris, accused of having carried out “aggressive operations and maneuvers” to “destabilize” the countrywithout specifying their nature.
The Algerian War still debated
In recent weeks, President Tebboune has also revived memory tensions over French colonization and the Algerian war of independence. Denouncing “lies about Algeria”, he accuses France of having committed “genocide” in his country.
The Algerian president also asked Paris to “come and clean up the sites of nuclear tests” carried out by France in the Algerian Sahara between 1960 and 1966. Documents declassified in 2013 revealed still significant radioactive fallout, extending from West Africa south of Europe. Heavy accusations which arise while memorial work had begun between the two countries.
After denouncing a French “crime against humanity” in Algeria during his 2017 campaign, Emmanuel Macron set among his diplomatic objectives to reconcile French and Algerian memories, while refusing to initiate a process of “repentance” .
In 2020, he entrusted historian Benjamin Stora with writing a report on “memory issues relating to colonization and the Algerian war”. But the text was described as “non-objective” by Algiers which criticized the absence of “official recognition by France of war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated during the 130 years of occupation”.
During his 2022 visit, Emmanuel Macron and his Algerian counterpart announced the creation of a commission of French and Algerian historians on colonization, which met for the first time in 2023. Despite tensions between the two countries , Emmanuel Macron said last September that he was “determined” to “continue the work of memory, truth and reconciliation”.
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