Algeria’s Growing Armament Confuses French Military Circles

The French military circles and research centres are concerned and afraid of what they see as “the growing armament of Algeria”, especially concerning the naval forces, and are promoting the hypothesis that Algerian military capabilities are sufficient to close the Strait of Gibraltar, a French National Assembly’s (the lower chamber of Parliament) report said.

This narrative came through a media report of the Defense and Armed Forces Committee of the French National Assembly, which included a round table on the issues of demilitarization and the French defence policy on the African continent, dated April 10, 2024, a copy of which was checked out by Echorouk.

It was stated in the report, from hearing the researcher and Paris University lecturer of Algerian origin, Abdenour Benantar, that when it comes to security, the perception of the threat is considered more important than the fact of its occurrence, indicating that there is a discourse gaining ground and expanding its reach in French military circles and research centres, which is based on feelings of concern about Algeria’s armament, especially its naval forces.

In this regard, the report explained that a famous hypothesis was put forward, stating that Algeria could have sufficient capacity to close the Strait of Gibraltar through naval forces. Furthermore, the researcher Benantar said that the danger here lies in returning to talk about the thesis of the threat coming from the south, that is, from the countries of the southern bank of the Mediterranean towards the countries of the northern bank, which dates back to the 1990s, which prompted European and NATO countries to launch dialogues with countries of the southern bank to dispel this threat.

The report considered that French relations with the Maghreb countries are very complex and cannot be approached from one angle, noting that, for example, it is complicated to separate the defence and security aspects from the fluctuations of French-Algerian political relations, as evidenced by the opening of Algerian airspace to the French armed forces then closing it and then reopening it.

The report talked about a leadership race between three African countries, Algeria, South Africa, and Nigeria, concerning UN peacekeeping operations in the African continent, in light of the presence of an intense debate between supporters of giving an African character to these operations by increasing the participation of African units in peacekeeping under the supervision of the United Nations, and between supporters of not limiting the matter to African military units only, but rather want the entire process to be managed by the Africans themselves.

The same report indicated that a study of Algerian-French relations shows that the shared memory between the two countries refuses to heal, and memories of the past still impose themselves sixty years after Algeria’s independence, amid mutual accusations.