Former French Ambassador to Algeria Blames Paris for ‘War of Memory

Whenever there is a development in Algerian-French relations, the former French ambassador to Algeria, Xavier Driencourt, comes out and tries to influence this development in one way or another, in line with the aspirations of a major political movement in France, the right, both its traditional and extremist parts, which does not hesitate to seize any opportunity to settle its scores inherited from the colonial era with Algeria.
Immediately after the telephone conversation that took place on Monday, March 11, 2024, between the Algerian president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, the retired diplomat was the guest of the journalist, Andrey Berkoff, the next day on the French southern radio station “Master Radio” to discuss Algerian-French relations.
Since his retirement, the former French ambassador to Algeria has become a familiar face on the French right, in the eyes of observers, as he no longer has to keep a low profile and has revealed his positions in dialogues and contributions to French newspapers and channels. The man’s positions have become an exact copy of the right-wing and far-right parties in France, especially regarding relations with Algeria.
The interest of the French media in Xavier Driencourt as a specialist in Algerian affairs is due to the fact that this diplomat worked in Algeria in two phases, the first from (2008 to 2012) during the presidency of the former president Nicolas Sarkozy, and the second from (2017 to 2020), during the rule of the current president. Emmanuel Macron, an experience he collected in a book entitled “The Algerian Enigma”, and is therefore considered one of the best diplomats knowledgeable about Algerian affairs.
Based on his experience in Algeria and his knowledge of many hidden things, the man believes that the ignition of the war of memory between Algeria and Paris is borne by France, as it is the party that was the initiator of waging this war through the enactment of the law glorifying colonialism in February 2005, which, as is known, spoke about the positive aspects of the French occupation law in Algeria and other former colonies, which caused anger in Algeria and other former colonies before former President Jacques Chirac intervened to delete some of the controversial articles.
This law caused widespread anger in Algeria and other former colonies before former President Jacques Chirac intervened to remove some of the controversial articles of this law, which glorified colonialism and called for its teaching in French schools.
When he talks about the reality of bilateral relations and their impact on French interests, he expresses clear pessimism, a significant decline in his country’s interests in exchange for the consolidation of the presence of some countries such as China, Turkey, Russia and South Korea. In his opinion, this is a worrying situation because he sees with his own eyes the decline of his country’s role in the world. Its most important former colony, Algeria, is no longer the country under the influence of Paris, as it was not so long ago.
The retired diplomat spoke with a certain regret about the decline of his country’s influence in its former colony. Even the grain that France had exported to Algeria was now threatened by Russian wheat. The situation of the French language in schools, administrations and universities was also worrying, although “as a former diplomat, I was sad to see this in Algeria,” says Driancourt, in contrast to the remarkable presence of the English language in schools and universities.
The former ambassador also speaks of the decline of French influence and presence in Algeria: “They (the Algerian authorities) refused to create five French cultural centers in southern Algeria, and they still do, while we accepted the opening of two new Algerian consulates on French soil. In fact, the Algerians are now demanding the protection of their resident nationals on French soil, as happened during the events of last June.
Similarly to the rest of the previous dialogues of the former French ambassador to Algeria, when he talks about relations with Algeria, the 1968 migration agreement signed with Paris must be present, and as a result of the provisions contained in this agreement, his positions hostile to Algerian interests are crystallized. He demands its cancellation, even if it is necessary. One side is indifferent to the repercussions of this on bilateral relations, a position it shares with the extreme right in its country.