Algeria Bans French Fighters From Using Its Airspace

Rapid developments are pushing Algerian-French relations to an unknown horizon. After the Presidency of the Republic announced that it had summoned Algeria’s ambassador to Paris, Mohamed Antar Daoud, for consultations, it took a second decision to close Algerian airspace to the French military warplanes, in response to the irresponsible and provocative statements by the French President Emmanuel Macron.

At the level of provocation, the response came, according to identical sources including the French press agency (Agence France Press), quoted that the decision to deprive the French military aviation of flying over Algerian airspace began on Sunday, as two flights of the French Air Force were cancelled, according to the statement by the French military institution.

“When we presented plans for two flights this morning (Sunday), we learned that the Algerians will close the airspace over their territory to French military planes”, said the official in the French General Staff, Colonel Pascal Ianni.

However, the same official reiterated that “preventing French military planes from flying in Algerian airspace would not affect the military operations or intelligence missions carried out by the French army in Mali and the Sahel region”.

As of Sunday, no statement was issued by the Algerian authorities, confirming or denying the identical news reported by French media regarding the decision to prevent French warplanes from passing through Algerian airspace.

It is known that the authorization of the passage of French warplanes through Algerian airspace dates back to 2013, and at that time the decision caused great political controversy, given the past of the French army and the stereotype that Algerians hold about it.

On Saturday, the Algerian authorities announced the “immediate recall” of its ambassador to Paris, Mohamed Antar Daoud, for consultations, and attributed this decision to what it described as the “categorical rejection” of statements attributed to French President Emmanuel Macron, which were considered blatant interference in Algeria’s internal affairs.

A statement by the Presidency of the Republic said that the French President’s statements “carry an unacceptable attack on the memory of five million and 630 thousand martyrs, who sacrificed their lives and precious things in their heroic resistance against the French colonial invasion”.

“These crimes do not fall within the statute of limitations and should not be the subject of manipulation of facts and interpretations that reduce their ugliness”, the statement added.

“The tendency of those with nostalgia for French Algeria, and the circles that recognize, with difficulty, the complete independence, which the Algerians achieved, through a great struggle, is expressed through futile attempts to hide the atrocities, massacres, fires and destruction of hundreds of villages, such as incidents Oradour-Sur-Glane, and the elimination of tribes of resistors, which are serial genocides, which conceptual manoeuvres and political shortcuts will not succeed in hiding”.

The French authorities are faced with a disturbing challenge in terms of logistical communication with their forces in the Sahel, which number is 5000 soldiers, working in the framework of the so-called “Barkhane” operation, a military operation that includes several African countries and is led by France, with the pretext of fighting extremist groups in Mali.

The French Air Force fighters need to cross Algerian airspace before reaching the Sahel region, where they are fighting extremist groups, knowing that the Algerian-Malian border extends over 800 km, which means that Paris is now forced to search for a new scheme to operate its military and logistical fighters, at a time when it was planning to reduce its forces stationed in Mali in half.