Macron deescalates France-Algeria tensions amid deportation row
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The French President reaffirmed that any changes regarding the 1968 agreement are within the President's jurisdiction, as ministers threatened that France would withdraw from the treaty.
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France's President Emmanuel Macron at the European leaders' summit to discuss Ukraine, hosted by Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, at Lancaster House, London, Sunday March 2, 2025 (AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron issued a warning to his minister on Tuesday after they attempted to escalate the diplomatic rift between France and Algeria.
Marcon said that France needs to "engage in a rigorous and respectful dialogue,” in an interview with Le Figaro, following Prime Minister François Bayrou's threats to withdraw from the 1968 agreement that simplifies the immigration process for Algerians to France.
Withdrawing from an international agreement is a decision for the president to make, Macron emphasized, noting that he is "totally in favor of renegotiating it, not leaving it," in response to the Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau's threats of scrapping the 1968 agreement.
The diplomatic row between the two countries started after France attempted to deport several Algerian immigrants, whom Algeria refused entry, sending them back to Paris, in addition to the French President's remarks saying that the Western Sahara region belongs to Morocco.
Algeria and France's diplomatic dispute
The influencer known as "Doualemn," a 59-year-old, was taken into custody by French authorities in Montpellier for sharing a controversial video on TikTok and was initially deported to Algeria on January 9, according to his lawyer, only to be sent back to France the same evening as Algeria denied his entry.
France's Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau accused Algeria of seeking to humiliate France, while Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot cautioned that visa restrictions or aid reductions could be imposed, emphasizing that France would have "no option but to retaliate" if "the Algerians continue to escalate" the dispute.
Algeria dismissed France's accusations of escalating tensions, instead blaming the French far right for orchestrating a "campaign of disinformation" amid their diplomatic dispute over the deportation of an influencer, with the Algerian Foreign Ministry asserting that the country is "in no way engaged in a logic of escalation... or humiliation" in a statement published January 12
The Algerian Foreign Ministry reaffirmed its position against France's hostility, stating that "any violation of the 1968 agreement, which has already been emptied of all its substance and essence, will result in a similar decision by Algeria regarding other agreements and protocols of the same nature," in a February 27 statement.
This closely followed the French Prime Minister's threats on February 26 to review the 1968 migration pact, with Algeria accusing France of breaching its commitments by arbitrarily deporting Algerians without offering them legal recourse.
"Amid escalation and tensions added by the French side to relations between Algeria and France, Algeria did not initiate any form of rupture and instead left the French side to bear full responsibility alone," the ministry stated, adding that Algeria took on the responsibility of self-restraint and is exercising its rights and fulfilling its duties to Algerian nationals in France.
