French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot has accused Algeria of stoking a rapidly deteriorating diplomatic dispute, as tension grows despite his visit to Algiers earlier this month aimed at thawing ties.
"We are in a very regrettable situation in which dialogue dramatically deteriorated because of an unjustifiable decision by Algeria," Mr Barrot told radio station France Inter on Wednesday.
He spoke after a series of retaliatory measures that French media described as the worst diplomatic rupture between the two countries since Algeria gained independence in 1962.
On Tuesday, Mr Barrot announced the expulsion of 12 Algerian diplomats from France and recalled the French ambassador in Algeria for consultations, in response to Algeria's decision to expel 12 French officials from the embassy in Algiers.
Government critic
Algeria linked their expulsion to the arrest on Friday of three Algerian nationals in France, including a consular official, in connection with the 2024 abduction of prominent government critic Amir Boukhors, widely known online as "Amir DZ". The three men are also being prosecuted on charges of terrorist conspiracy and have been placed under pre-trial detention.
Mr Boukhors, who has more than a million followers on social media platform TikTok, has accused Algeria of organising his 27-hour kidnapping to intimidate him. Algiers has issued nine arrest warrants against Mr Boukhors, who obtained political asylum in France in 2023.
The Algerian Foreign Affairs Ministry has described the arrest of its official as an "unacceptable legal cabal" based "on the sole fact that the accused consular officer's mobile phone was located around the home address of the firebrand" - a reference to Mr Boukhors.
Algiers has blamed the arrests on French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who has long advocated for a harsher stance towards Algeria. Bilateral ties have been strained since last summer after French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated France’s recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara region - a move that angered Algeria, which backs the region's separatist movement.
Mr Barrot, a centrist close to Mr Macron, described Algeria's reaction as "completely disproportionate", insisting that the arrests were a matter for France's independent judiciary. "Bruno Retailleau has nothing to do with this," he said. Daily newspaper Le Figaro reported that the 12 expelled French officials were all affiliated with the Interior Ministry.
Despite asserting a firm line, Mr Barrot, has faced criticism from the political right, with some like Mr Retailleau calling for a complete overhaul of France's relationship with Algeria, including scrapping a 1968 agreement that lays the foundation for Algerian immigration to France.
"This is what the 'graduated response' has led us to: a new humiliation," said Laurent Wauquiez, a Les Republicains MP and rival to Mr Retailleau in the party's coming leadership election. Algiers has accused the right of obsessing over Algeria for electoral gains.
Mr Barrot warned against "irresponsible" grandstanding. He referred to Mr Retailleau's trip to Morocco on Monday during which Rabat promised to double its acceptance rate for repatriation of Moroccan nationals expelled from France.
According to a French Senate report published in February, both Morocco and Algeria accepted roughly 10 per cent of such requests in 2023.
Heavy history
A deadly knife attack by an undocumented Algerian man in the eastern French city of Mulhouse in February reignited debate in France over how to compel Algeria to comply with international law on deportations.
The suspect, who killed a passer-by and injured five police officers, had been subject to 10 failed expulsion requests. Yet revoking bilateral agreements, as suggested by Mr Retailleau, will not lead Algeria to increase its acceptance rates, legal experts in France have warned.
France is a former colonial power in both Algeria and Morocco but has more difficult relations with Algeria. Unlike Morocco, Algeria was considered an integral part of French territory after colonisation began in 1830. The legacy of the 1954-1962 Algerian war of independence, which costs hundreds of thousands of lives, remains a deeply sensitive and unresolved chapter in both nations' histories.
In recent months, tension has been further stoked by the arrest of several pro-government Algerian influencers in France. On Tuesday, a court in the city of Lyon sentenced 54-year-old French-Algerian influencer Sofia Benlemmane to a nine-month suspended prison sentence for issuing death threats. The court also banned her from TikTok and Facebook for six months. According to daily Le Monde, Benlemmane had been expelled from Ivory Coast in 2023 for racist comments during the Africa Cup of Nations.
Both Mr Barrot and Mr Macron have been working behind the scenes to ease tension. On April 6, Mr Barrot met Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during a visit to Algiers, a week after the countries' leaders spoke on the phone. At the time, Mr Barrot claimed relations were "returning to normal".
He had also raised hopes for the release of 80-year-old French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who was sentenced to five years in prison by an Algerian court in March on national security charges. They appear to be linked to his public support of Morocco's sovereignty over the Sahara region. His French lawyer has said he is battling cancer.
On Tuesday, Le Figaro published a letter from Mr Sansal's daughters, Nawal and Sabeha, addressed to Mr Macron. In it, they described their father as a "hostage" caught in the crossfire of the diplomatic feud between France and Algeria.
