France Will Maintain A Balance In Its Relations With Algeria And Morocco

Many experts on Algerian-French relations are concerned about the recent rapprochement between Paris and Rabat and its impact on relations with Algeria. Among them is the former French ambassador to Algeria, Xavier Driencourt, who speaks of Paris’s desire to reach a state of equilibrium that will transform itself without breaking relations with one of the two arch-friends.
For the retired French diplomat, despite the presence of major French economic interests in Morocco and the numerous visits of French officials to this country in recent months, this does not mean that Paris will put all its eggs in the Moroccan basket, because this would lead to destroy relations with Algeria.
Driencourt said in an interview broadcast Wednesday, April 24, 2024 on the website of the French newspaper Le Figaro: “Our country’s relations with these two countries go beyond the economic dimension, and although France has large investments in Morocco, there is also the issue of security in the Mediterranean and even security within French territory, in addition to the issue of immigration and the memory file for Algeria, there is also the issue of the Sahel, and of course there are economic issues, but they are not everything.”
Former French President Jacques Chirac is considered “the first president who managed to strike a balance in his relations with Algeria and Morocco. He was close to Rabat, but was accepted in Algeria. At the moment, we are at loggerheads with both countries. If we get closer to Morocco, what will the situation be like?” With Algeria? Relations with Algeria could be greatly affected, especially if France recognizes the Moroccan status of the Sahara. The second possibility remains the continuation of the rapprochement with the Moroccan regime, while making additional commitments to Algeria. This is a very difficult balance to strike,” said Driencourt.
Regarding the possibility of repeating Chirac’s successful experience in balancing Paris’ relations with its two former colonies in the Maghreb region, the retired diplomat believes that “repeating Jacques Chirac’s experience in balancing relations with the two Maghreb countries has become difficult because obstacles and challenges have increased, such as the issue of immigration.
What is striking in Driancourt’s words is that despite Algeria’s proximity to Russia and China, and the existence of significant economic relations with both Turkey and Germany at the expense of France, this will not affect the rapprochement with France, because this fact is old and there has been no crisis in relations between Algeria and Paris. The visits continue. There is a date in September or October for the Algerian president to visit France, and the French president also visited Algeria in August 2022.
As for the issue that continues to put pressure on relations between Algeria and Paris, it remains the issue of memory, and in his opinion, the French president has made many concessions on this level since 2017, but this has not been matched by anything that can be relied on from the other side, Algeria. The French diplomat does not believe that the issue of remembrance will lead to a crisis between the two countries as long as Paris takes initiatives from time to time, as it did recently at the level of the National Assembly regarding the massacre of October 17, 1961. French (Second Chamber of Parliament).