Algiers – Paris: The president of the "France-Algeria" association, Ségolène Royal, has warned of signs of the collapse of everything that has been built in bilateral relations, following her visit to Algeria at the end of January and beginning of February. She accused the French side of pursuing a "policy of escalation" in managing its relations with Algeria.
In a significant development, the former French minister took advantage of the upcoming visit of Pope Leo XIV to Algeria, scheduled for next week, to publish a message on the platform "X" on Tuesday, April 7. In it, she expressed her dismay at the regression of the dynamic that bilateral relations had experienced, placing responsibility on the French side which "takes the initiative, each time, of offense and provocation" towards Algeria.
The former socialist candidate for the French presidential election wrote: "Relations between Algeria and France are experiencing regrettable tension, tension that threatens global stability and peace. The Pope's visit to Algeria reminds us that history, culture, and faith are effective tools for dialogue."
Harsh criticism of Retailleau and Macron
Ségolène Royal had sharply criticized the French authorities after her return from Algeria, accusing Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau of having placed "preconditions" on his visit. She stated in an interview with BFMTV: "When he sets conditions, it means he doesn't want to go. The Interior Minister must go. They are waiting for him." This indeed happened, as Retailleau went to Algeria and was received by President Tebboune.
She also renewed her call to President Emmanuel Macron to take concrete measures on the sensitive issue of memory, expressing the hope that "this historic visit by the Pope will finally awaken consciences," in her capacity as president of the association founded in 1963 under the patronage of General de Gaulle to "heal wounds and work towards repairing the relationship between our two peoples."
Growing diplomatic crisis
Royal's message comes in an extremely tense context, marked by a return of tensions between the two countries after a brief lull following Retailleau's visit. However, Paris failed to capitalize on this lull due to imprudent political and diplomatic positions that brought the crisis back to square one.
Last week, the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the charge d'affaires of the French embassy in Algiers to notify him of Algeria's protest against the decision by French justice to extend by an additional year the detention of an Algerian consular agent, detained unjustly, in flagrant contradiction with the 1961 Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations.
The crisis worsened further after the statement from the Algerian Council of Ministers at the beginning of the week, which dedicated part of its work to responding to French provocations, embodied by the serious remarks of the French anti-terrorist prosecutor, Olivier Christen. In response, the Algerian side denounced the lack of cooperation from the French judiciary regarding dozens of rogatory commissions, numbering 61, concerning cases of corruption and terrorism.
French attempts at justification
In a clumsy attempt to justify itself, the newspaper Le Figaro reported on Monday, April 6, citing anonymous sources, that "the French authorities dispute the number of rogatory commissions presented by Algeria and have extended a hand for cooperation." Observers, however, see this as a desperate maneuver to try to save face.
Furthermore, while the daily mentions a forthcoming visit by Anne-Claire Legendre, director of the Arab World Institute and former Élysée advisor for North Africa and the Middle East, successive developments on the bilateral level indicate that this visit is now highly uncertain. Due to Algerian anger over the series of French provocations, a diplomatic rupture is more threatened than ever in the near future.