The ministry invited “the French party to dispatch a delegation to Algiers to start discussions on this subject,” according to the press release from Algerian power.
( AFP / LUDOVIC MARIN )
In the midst of a diplomatic crisis with Paris, Algiers announced Thursday the end of free goods loaned for decades at the French Embassy in Algeria and a revision of the leases contracted for other French institutions on Algerian territory.
The French manager in Algiers, summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was informed of
“The decision of the Algerian authorities to end the provision, free of charge, of real estate belonging to the Algerian State for the benefit of the French Embassy in Algeria”,
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
A verbal note sent by Algiers to Paris also announces “the re -examination of leases, considerably advantageous, contracted by the embassy” with public real estate establishments in Algeria for example to host French institutes or consulates present in the country.
“Introduce balance and reciprocity”
According to an APS dispatch dating from March, France rents at very advantageous prices, 61 goods in Algeria including 18 hectares for the French Embassy and 4 hectares for the ambassador’s residence in Algiers. According to the APS, the rent for the embassy is “insignificant” and that of the residence called “the olive trees” was of a “symbolic franc” and “unchanged between 1962 and August 2023”.
According to Algiers, “Algerian diplomatic representation in France does not benefit from any advantage of this same nature. Consequently, the Algerian action thus decided aims to introduce balance and reciprocity in the global Algerian-French relationship”.
Relations between Paris and Algiers have been at its lowest since July 2024. The crisis was marked by expulsions of diplomats and civil servants on both sides and a frost of all official cooperation.
