The meeting, organized Friday November 1 by Le360 as part of its conference cycle “Le Grand Témoin” was as anticipated as it was successful. The guest was distinguished and he was none other than Xavier Driencourt, renowned French diplomat and twice French ambassador to Algeria (from 2008 to 2012 and from 2017 to 2020).
Xavier Driencourt is the French diplomat who has spent the most time stationed in Algeria. “Because I didn’t pass the first time, so they actually made me repeat», he commented with humor during this conference. The opportunity was perfect, the release in pocket edition of his book “The Algerian enigma: chronicles of an embassy in Algiers”, a fascinating analysis of this country so close and yet so enigmatic, revealing its complexity and what the Algerians themselves call “the System».
(Y. El Harrak, A. Et-Tahiry, K.Essalak, A.Gadrouz, S.Bouchrite / Le360)
However, “it is not a book of memory. I have a memoir in preparation», Specified the diplomat. The moderator of the meeting, consultant, speaker and analyst/columnist, Rachid Achachi, was full of praise for the work. “The book is an essay, written like a detective novel. We follow the main character, there is an ability to recreate the context of each moment, not only political, but emotional and mental. Sometimes, I had the impression of being in a form of exteriority in the same room as Xavier Driencourt seeing him speak to an Algerian minister for example», he commented at the start of the meeting. “However, it is not an incriminating book, easy to disqualify“, warned the moderator. “I wanted to write a sort of photograph, a picture of current Algeria with its strengths, its weaknesses, its contradictions, the complexity of the political system and the difficulty of the relationship with France.“, for his part underlined the author. Enough to set the tone for a rich and enriching exchange. There was no shortage of topics. Here is a summary.
Being a French diplomat in Algiers
For Xavier Driencourt, being Paris’ ambassador to Algeria is the most difficult position in French diplomacy. “This is both foreign policy and domestic policy. Because there is the historical past, the agreements of 1968. And there are also more than 7 million people living in France, who have direct or indirect links with Algeria. We are talking about 10% of the French population“, explained the diplomat. The relationship is schizophrenic. The proof? “The same people in Algeria who criticize France during the day call, in the evening, the consul or the ambassador to obtain a visa or a privilege.».
Change in France’s position on the Sahara: what next?
If there is one attitude that has literally shocked Algeria, it is the change in Paris’ position on the Sahara question, with France now supporting Morocco’s sovereignty over its southern provinces. “The President of the Republic effectively wanted to break the deadlock in which France had found itself with Morocco for 4, 5 years now, and he realized that ultimately he did not have much to expect from the Algerians. because he made all the necessary gestures, particularly memorial ones. But there was nothing in return. I add that on the other hand, there was extremely effective and far-sighted Moroccan diplomacy. We arrived at the result of last summer, Macron’s letter to His Majesty, the French president’s recent trip to Rabat and the speech before the Moroccan Parliament.explained Driencourt.
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And now? For the diplomat, Algeria did not think that Spain and, above all, France were going to change positions vis-à-vis Western Sahara. And the French change is particularly important because France is a permanent member of the Security Council and because Algeria considered that it was a hypothesis that would never happen. Despite the threats and posturing, Algeria will not be able to change the situation. The main enemy remains the main partner. “I compare it with what happened with Spain two years ago. Algiers has interrupted all economic relations and all flights to Madrid. Apart from the withdrawal of the ambassador, Algeria has not interrupted the 300 flights per week with France. note Driencourt. Algiers is also isolated on a diplomatic level, Russia having distanced itself and the regime being in open conflict with Niger, Mali, Morocco, etc., underlined Driencourt.
“Standing to a firm diplomatic line”
For the French diplomat, French support for Morocco in the Sahara heralds a change in paradigms and state of mind among the French political class. “President Macron, in September 2021 in a newspaper interview The Worldhad extremely harsh words towards Algeria. It was he who spoke about the memorial annuity. It was he, Emmanuel Macron, who spoke of the falsification of history by Algeria, of the instrumentalization of history by a politico-military system. But a few months later, he went to Algiers to kiss President Tebboune. What I criticized the French government for was not having clear guidelines for our policy in Algeria.“, he commented.
But now, there has been an arbitration and a choice that has been made, according to the diplomat. “By recognizing the Moroccan nature of the Sahara, France begins to draw the lines“, he decided. “We must stick to a firm diplomatic line and not act “at the same time”. President Macron, since 2017, has made what I call the Algeria bet. Basically, Macron thought he could succeed with Algeria, where neither De Gaulle, nor Mitterrand, nor Chirac had succeeded. But the bet turned into an Algerian trap. Now we must not change course“, he concluded. France also has numerous levers vis-à-vis Algiers.
Review the France-Algeria agreements
For Driencourt, the change in paradigms begins with a review of the agreements between France and Algeria. Driencourt recalled in this regard the report he recently wrote for the French Foundation for Political Innovation, and which the entire French political class has taken up, from Édouard Philippe, Nicolas Sarkozy to Marine Le Pen, Bardella, Eric Zemmour via Manuel Valls. At the heart of this note, the 68 chords.
Read also: Xavier Driencourt: “The entire Algerian nomenclature can come to France without a visa to do their business and seek treatment”
«The Évian agreements in 1962 provided for free movement between France and Algeria. And for good reason, the French negotiators thought that the pieds noirs would stay in Algeria. And this is why the Evian agreements did not provide for any residence permit, no passport, no visa obviously to travel between France and Algeria. But, from July 62, there was the return of the pieds noirs to France and therefore freedom of movement only existed for Algerians. Hence the negotiation of this 1968 agreement which does not restore freedom of movement, but gives a certain number of advantages to Algerians compared to other nationalities. For settling in France, for family reunification…», Detailed the former French ambassador to Algiers.
The contradiction on the part of the Algerian elites consists for him of abundantly criticizing France, but at the same time asking for a certain number of advantages or wanting to keep a certain number of advantages. “There comes a time when you have to be on the right or on the left. We can’t be between two chairs. Obviously, Algerians, the Algerian press, the Algerian authorities quickly criticized this position. President Tebboune said that France occupied Algeria for 132 years and that, therefore, Algeria was entitled to 132 years of visa. This means!” exclaimed Driencourt.
Diplomatic passport, this heresy
Another anomaly, the 2007 agreement signed between Mourad Medelci, the former Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, and his counterpart at the time, Bernard Kouchner. A simple exchange of letters on visa exemption for diplomatic passport holders. However, supposed to facilitate the work of diplomats, the diplomatic passport has become an instrument of co-optation of the Algerian elite, an instrument to retain the loyalty of the clients of the Algerian elite. It is a passport that is given to all dignitaries, their wives, their children… “Diplomatic passports are a bit part of a certain standing and are issued to politicians, their families, diplomats obviously, but to many, many others. It allows these categories of people to come to France without a visa.“. For him, it is high time for this visa exemption to end.
Algeria, a terra incognita
In its standoff, particularly with France, Algeria is playing the card of the opacity of its political system. Apparently, we have all the institutions of a republic: the court of accounts, a parliament, etc. And then there is the reality hidden behind this veil, a diffuse power where each person through trial and error discovers the room for maneuver he has and the lines that must not be crossed. The army, which was behind the curtain, nevertheless revealed itself and had to take matters into its own hands. But for France, the country remains a mystery.
Read also: The disastrous results of Abdelmadjid Tebboune dissected by Xavier Driencourt
«Algerians know us better than we know them, even after 132 years of colonization», agreed the ambassador. For him, the French do not know Algeria. Because it’s complicated to go there, because we don’t necessarily want to go there, because the only ones who go there are the Franco-Algerians who return to Algeria in the summer. “The French political class lacks in a certain way lucidity towards Algeria and the French, the French people know little about Algeria, they know Morocco because all the French came to Tangier, to Casablanca , in Marrakech. Algeria remains a terra incognita for many French people. This is reality».
Hirak is dead, long live the regime!
Witness to Hirak, Xavien Driencourt has strong ideas on the subject. For him, this popular movement to protest the regime is dead and the system is set to last. “The Hirak lasted from February 2019 to March 2020. I believe that from the start, there was a deep contradiction. The Algerian demonstrators asked to change the system and Gaïd Salah, head of the army at the time, wanted to change the men and considered that once we had changed the men, that is to say, had Bouteflika evacuated , everyone must have been happy. But he didn’t want to change the system“, he related. The army wanted to change men to maintain the system and the demonstrators wanted to change men and change the system. And the army won.
«I am quite pessimistic about the evolution of this system. And the regime will last. With 13 million demonstrators, the regime feared a scenario like in Libya, Egypt, Syria or Tunisia at best. The army was very scared, and today it is decided to take things back and keep things in hand“, judged the diplomat. So, the Algiers regime has felt the wind and will do everything to ensure that the Hirak in this case does not happen again.
