“French diplomats are not free to move in Algeria, let’s do the same thing”

Franco-Algerian tensions seem to be at their peak since 1962. This Thursday, Algeria went so far as to send back to France, without further ado, its own national, the influencer Doualemn. Xavier Driencourt, former French ambassador to Algiers, speaks in “Viewpoints» (Le Figaro TV) the retaliatory measures that France can take to “very short term», without even requiring the approval of Emmanuel Macron.

The first is directly linked to Thursday’s event, since Xavier Driencourt puts forward the idea of ​​banning flights operated by Air Algérie. “If the company carries passengers who cannot get off, let’s ban Air Algérie. They, in retaliation, will ban Air France, but which of the two parties will be trapped?», Submits the diplomat, in a rhetorical question.

“Bruno Retailleau can take a measure from Monday and without presidential approval”

Then, the ambassador, who had already forcefully denounced the 1968 agreement, addresses an issue little known to laymen in Franco-Algerian diplomatic relations. Xavier Driencourt reveals that “French diplomats, when they want to leave their city – Algiers, Oran or Annaba – must request authorization from the local police eight days in advance and even be escorted. This is also why no one from the embassy can go to Boualem Sansal’s home in Boumerdès, 40 kilometers from Algiers. I don’t know if Mr. Retailleau is listening to us, but I would suggest to him, as of Monday, and that’s up to him, to decide that people from the Algerian embassy and consulate in Paris will henceforth not be able to travel to France without permission».

The thing may seem formal, but almost Kafkaesque precedents exist. “In Algeria, if you don’t have this authorization and you leave Algiers, they arrest you. And it has already happened, if only recently: the number 2 of the French embassy went to Kabylia at the time of the fires to thank the French firefighters and, without authorization, he was taken back to Algiers manu militari. This measure also concerns religious people, the Archbishop of Algiers. Let’s then tell the rector of the Paris Mosque that he can no longer travel to France without authorization.”. “It is in their interest, for their security, so that they do not come across French people who would be the reeks of colonialism as they formulate it there, and even so that they do not come across me», quips the diplomat, regular target of the Algerian media.