The crisis goes to the next level. In a letter addressed to François Bayrou and published this Wednesday, August 6 by Le FigaroEmmanuel Macron asks the Prime Minister that France acts “with more firmness and determination” in the face of Algeria, in a context of degraded relations between the two countries.
“France must be strong and be respected. She can only obtain it from her partners if herself shows them the respect she demands from them. This basic rule applies to Algeria too, ”writes the head of state. “Given the growing difficulties we encounter in migratory and security matters with Algeria, I want you to be able to make additional decisions,” continues Emmanuel Macron, four months after his last direct exchange with his counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
Suspension of the 2013 agreement
Among the measures recommended, the President of the Republic asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot to notify the Algerian authorities the formal suspension of the 2013 agreement concerning visa exemptions on official and diplomatic passports. “I have noted that first measures have been taken with regard to senior Algerian officials who might want to go to our country. However, we must now act the official suspension of the 2013 agreement, ”insists the head of state.
Read too France-Algeria: and now the war of diplomatic suitcasesHe hopes that Bruno Retailleau “obtaining our partners Schengen that they will take the measures essential to the effectiveness of our decisions, especially the consultation of France for the issuance of short stay visas for the Algerian officials in question and the passports referred to by this agreement. »»
Emmanuel Macron also asks the government to “immediately” use a measure of the immigration law of 2024, the “Visa-Readmission lever (LVR)”, which “allows you to refuse short stay visas for service and diplomatic passport and diplomatic holders, as are long-stay visas for all types of applicants”.
Boualem Sansal and Christophe Gleizes
To discover
The kangaroo of the day
Answer
Relations between France and Algeria have deteriorated strongly since July 2024, when Emmanuel Macron caused the anger of Algiers by recognizing the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco for the Western Sahara region. The showdown is also played on the OQTF of Algerian nationals.
To justify this hardening, the French president invokes the fate of the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, 80 years old, arrested last November and sentenced on appeal in July to five years in prison for “attack on the integrity of the Algerian territory”. And that of French journalist Christophe Gleizes was sentenced to seven years in prison by Algerian justice for “apology for terrorism”. Paris said this decision strongly regrets. “We have no choice but to adopt an approach of greater firmness” insists Macron with the Figaro.