Algeria Declines Macron’s Invitation to Commemorate the “Provence Landings”

It is confirmed from day to day that Algerian-French relations have entered a dark tunnel from which it may be difficult to emerge, and the reason lies in the dramatic shift in the French position on one of the most sensitive issues, represented by the Western Sahara issue, which the Algerian party will not accept under any justification whatsoever, that day the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the National Community Abroad, Ahmed Attaf, told Paris that it is responsible for all repercussions resulting from its unilateral decision.

In the latest repercussions of the French move, Algeria completely ignored the invitation of the French presidency to attend a celebration of the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Provence on Thursday, August 15, commemorating the memory of thousands of soldiers from its former colonies (including Algerians), who gave their lives in contributing to its liberation from German Nazi occupation, along with its allied forces, the United States of America, Great Britain and Canada, during World War II.

Despite the invitation extended to it by the French Presidency (Elysée Palace) to attend the eightieth anniversary of the landing of Provence, Algeria did not send any representative, even in the person of the Chargé d’Affaires, as he is the highest representative of Algeria at present in France after Ambassador Said Moussi was withdrawn “with immediate effect”, due to the French “unsuccessful and immoral” position on the Western Sahara issue, as described by the Algerian Foreign Ministry’s statement.

According to the Agence France-Presse African countries were represented at the level of presidents, such as Cameroon, Togo, Comoros, the Central African Republic, and Gabon, and other countries were represented at the level of heads of government, similar to the Moroccan regime, and others at the level of ministers, such as Tunisia, Senegal, and Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire), and among them are ambassadors, such as the Republics of Chad and Benin.

Among the countries that have been in dispute with Paris recently, and speaking to Agence France-Presse, was Burkina Faso, which sent the Chargé d’Affairs (it does not have an ambassador), but Algeria, Niger, and Mali did not send any representative, regardless of their levels, which indicates the degradation degree which France’s relations with many of its former African colonies reach.

But what about the Algerian case, which was the focus of special attention by some media in France? Was Algeria invited by the French authorities to attend this anniversary? The French edition of the newspaper “Le Huff Post” quotes sources in the Elysee Palace as saying: “Algeria is invited to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the landing of Provence on Thursday, August 15. It even has its full place”, as an expression of its keenness to its participation.

The same source wondered about “the other foreign dignitaries? The names of all the participants were communicated just a few hours before the meeting. If Morocco is well represented by Aziz Akhannouch, head of government, there is no trace of an Algerian delegation. At the Élysée, where the embarrassment is palpable on the eve of the ceremony, it is confirmed that the Algerian dignitaries have indeed been invited. But they have obviously declined. Which says a lot about the state of relations between Paris and Algiers since the crisis over Western Sahara”.

Observers expect that the state of estrangement between Algeria and Paris will continue, and that the situation of these relations is heading towards complexity in the future, after the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Attaf, confirmed in his last press conference, the cancellation of the expected visit of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune (if he will win the Presidential election, of course), to France at the end of next September.