France Ready to Resume Dialogue With Algeria

The head of France’s Directorate General for External Security (DGSE), Nicolas Lerner, expressed his country’s readiness to normalise relations with Algeria after more than a year of political and diplomatic rupture, described by experts as unprecedented.

The French official mentioned signals emanating from Algeria, suggesting the imminent resumption of dialogue between the two countries.

The head of France’s foreign intelligence service did not disclose the nature of these signals, but he advocated for resuming the dialogue that has been stalled for over a year. Meanwhile, political and media elites in Paris are expressing their delight at the announcement by the new French Interior Minister, Laurent Nuñez, that he had received an invitation from his Algerian counterpart, Saïd Sayoud, to visit Algeria.

In an interview with France Inter radio on Monday, November 10, 2025, Nicolas Lerner said that “communication channels with Algeria have not been severed, and the French foreign intelligence services have exerted their influence to safeguard French political, economic, and security interests, particularly in counter terrorism.”

Nicolas Lerner appeared pleased as he spoke of receiving signals from Algeria indicating a willingness to resume dialogue with France. “Today we have signals coming from the Algerian side indicating a readiness to resume dialogue,” adding with satisfaction, “France is ready, France has always been ready” for such a moment.

According to the head of French foreign intelligence, “it is not in the interest of either country to remain in this predicament,” for which the French state, represented by its president Emmanuel Macron, bears full responsibility. This stems from its sudden decision to support the autonomy proposal of the Moroccan regime in 2007 for the Western Sahara conflict, despite its awareness of the geopolitical sensitivity of this issue for Algeria.

Nicolas Lerner explained, “We have reached the lowest point in operational cooperation in counter terrorism (with Algeria). However, I believe that thanks to the channels we have maintained, if the Algerian authorities had detected any threat on French soil, they would have informed us.”

Former French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau confirmed that Algerian authorities have suspended security cooperation with France since Macron’s decision regarding the Western Sahara issue, something he noted had not happened with Russia, which he described as being at war with European countries, including France.

Nicolas Lerner described the current crisis between Algeria and Paris as “extremely serious, perhaps the most serious since Algeria’s independence” in 1962. In a display of the blatant self-interest typical of French officials, he demanded the release of Boualem Sansal and Christophe Gleizes, convicted in criminal cases by Algerian courts. This stance threatens to derail any rapprochement between the two countries.

In response to questions from France Inter regarding the fate of the imprisoned French citizens, the head of French foreign intelligence stated, “We must maintain hope. We are working tirelessly to secure the release of Boualem Sansal and Christophe Gleizes.” Sansal is serving a five-year sentence, while Gleizes is serving a seven-year sentence and awaits his appeal hearing on December 3.

A few days ago, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot made statements that were not much different from those of Nicolas Lerner regarding Boualem Sansal and Christophe Gleizes. His irresponsible statements raised questions on the Algerian side, as they are considered a blatant interference in the country’s internal affairs.