[Débat] Has the quarrel between Paris and Algiers reached a point of no return?

Has the quarrel between Paris and Algiers reached a point of no return?

Diplomatic tensions between France and Algeria have crossed a new threshold. The two countries accuse each other of humiliation and one-upmanship. The latest escalation is the return to France of an Algerian national who had been expelled. Nicknamed “Doualemn” on TikTok, the 59-year-old man had made violent remarks against an Algerian anti-regime protester and was the subject, on January 7, of an expulsion notice signed by the prefect of Hérault. After his return to France, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau denounced the behavior of Algeria which, according to him, “seeks to humiliate France”. For its part, Algiers retorted that “the vengeful and hateful extreme right [menait] currently a campaign of disinformation, even mystification, against Algeria.” Tension had already risen a notch last summer, after French President Emmanuel Macron recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara: a territory 80% controlled by Morocco but which claims, with the support of the ‘Algeria, its independence. Another point of disagreement: the arrest of the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal by the Algerian authorities in November 2024.

We debate it with Farida Souiahpolitical scientist and specialist in Algeria and migration, Adlene Mohammediresearcher and teacher in geopolitics and specialist in the Arab world and Jean-Sébastien Ferjou, founder and publishing director of the site Atlantico.fr.