Former French Prime Minister Attacks Retailleau  Over Crisis With Algeria

Former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has joined the ranks of those warning against escalation with Algeria, led by some far-right figures in Francois Bayrou’s government, in the wake of the worsening crisis between the two capitals.

During a guest appearance on a talk show presented by the newspaper “Mediapart” on its website, Dominique de Villepin strongly attacked those who are pouring oil on the fire in relations with Algeria, targeting Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who is accused of fueling the dispute.

In the interview, moderated by renowned journalist Edoué Plenel, de Villepin said: “What hurts me today is the way French politicians deal with major diplomatic issues,” he said, sharply criticizing those who manage major issues with tweets on the X platform: “Managing the affairs of France is not done from social networks,” referring to Retailleau, who was responsible for fueling the discord between Algeria and Paris, following Algeria’s refusal to receive the influencer ‘Boualem’ and returned him on the plane that took him, with a series of tweets on the Twitter platform previously.

Dominique De Villepin who has expressed his desire to run in the upcoming presidential elections (2027), is considered one of France’s weighty political figures, as he held several sovereign ministerial portfolios, including the foreign and interior portfolios, and held the position of prime minister, all during the rule of the late President Jacques Chirac, who belonged to the De Gaulle movement, known for his independent positions from the Western system and somewhat moderate with regard to relations with Arab countries.

Retailleau was not the only one who contributed to poisoning relations with Algeria. He was accompanied by ousted Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, one of the French president’s most prominent men, who currently leads Macron’s parliamentary group in the French National Assembly (the lower chamber of parliament), where he called for the abrogation of the 1968 agreement with Algeria, as a factor of pressure on the Algerian authorities, as he claimed.

De Villepin responded to those voices by asking, “Is it possible to call for the abolition of the 1968 agreement through a few sentences on Twitter,” adding: “This is not how France is run.” He went on to ask: “What does canceling the 1968 agreement mean? It means striking a blow to Algeria. Is this politics? Is this diplomacy with a country with which we have historical ties, cultural ties, geographical ties and popular ties? You cannot address the world through a language that contains a lot of bidding.”

The former foreign minister rejected the practice of politics based on opinion polls or through social networks, which, in his opinion, remain hypothetical and easily distorted in light of the great development of electronic means, and he may have been referring here to the latest opinion poll conducted by the Ifop Institute for “Sud Radio”, which carried results that largely served the theses of the extreme right, as it produced distorted results claiming the rejection of Algerians by the majority of French people, an operation that was revealed in the wake of the worsening crisis between Algeria and Paris.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of the Proud France party, also attacked the rise of hostility towards Algeria and its community living in France, criticizing those who are pushing this trend, saying: “We don’t want a war with Algeria. They are our brothers, sisters, grandparents and friends!” He warned against employing phrases such as ‘we must retaliate,’ which was echoed by Bruno Retailleau a few days ago.

Earlier, the first secretary of the French Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, had criticized Retailleau’s’s remarks, accusing him of rushing: “He should have taken the time to think before he took the decision to deport the Algerian influencer.” He expressed his fear that Rautaillot may have played the sensationalist card (to satisfy the far right), when he should have waited for the decision of the justice system and been informed of the position of the receiving country, Algeria, regarding the reception of the deported person.”