French Circles Push For Rapprochement With Algeria Through The Gateway Of Mali

Some French political elites are attempting to steer their government’s compass toward benefiting from the recent rapprochement between Algeria and the ruling authorities in Mali. This aims to preserve Paris’s interests in the Sahel region and Francophone Africa in general, following the blow dealt in recent years by the erosion of its influence in most of its former colonies.

This approach came in the form of a parliamentary question addressed to the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, by the leader and Member of Parliament for the “France Unbowed” party, Sophia Chikirou.

She formulated it based on the failure of operations “Serval” and “Barkhane” to bring stability to the state of Mali, as well as France’s responsibility for the current political, security, and military deadlock in the Sahel region, which began in 2013.

Among the questions directed by the leader in Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s leftist party to her country’s foreign minister was “the French government’s assessment of the role Algeria can play in reaching a political solution to the crisis in Mali, and the nature of the contacts France is conducting with Algeria in this regard, and whether it intends to support regional mediation directly or indirectly, which would reopen a political horizon for reaching a settlement to the crisis in Mali”.

How then can we interpret the inclusion of Algeria by this parliamentarian in an issue concerning France’s interests in its lost zones of influence in Africa, and specifically in one of the Sahel region countries, Mali, whose relations with Paris are in an unprecedented crisis since independence, experiencing a state of stalemate and tension.

This parliamentary question can be read on more than one level, while distinguishing between the content of the question and the fact that it expresses the position of a parliamentarian and not necessarily the position of the French state, which has not publicly issued anything indicating the existence of contacts with Algeria in this regard, says a specialized source connected to this file.

In the view of the same source, the content of the question constitutes a direct critique of French policy in the Sahel region, due to the political and military failure of operations “Serval” and “Barkhane”, which the French army led in Mali starting from 2013, based on the security developments this country has experienced since that intervention.

The second point is the call to change the French doctrine in dealing with its zones of influence, Mali being one of these countries, which is based on a military approach alone. It calls for moving to a political approach that includes dialogue and regional mediations, instead of being limited to combating armed groups through military force alone.

The other point lies in “recognizing the importance of Algeria as a pivotal state by virtue of the shared borders with Mali”, in addition to the fact that Algeria played a historical role in the Peace and Reconciliation Agreement signed in Algeria in 2015, between the central authorities in Bamako and Northern opposition factions, under the auspices of the United Nations.

The other reading that can be sensed here as well, according to the same source, is that “Algeria possesses political and security influence in Mali and its neighborhood that France cannot ignore, and it may be the key to any future political settlement of the Malian crisis. This means that any sustainable solution in Mali is difficult to achieve without any role for Algeria”.

Through the question also, it can be said that the parliamentary question aims to “pressure the French government to cooperate with Algeria and support any regional mediation that Algeria might lead in the region, as an experienced mediator that has previously succeeded in resolving previous crises in this wounded country, while prioritizing a political solution instead of relying on the military option alone, which is what Algeria has warned against on more than one occasion”.

Even if this question “does not express” an official French position, according to the spokesperson, it reflects “the existence of a current within the French political arena that sees Algeria as possessing the qualifications of a partner that cannot be bypassed if France wants to search for a way out of the crisis in Mali and thus preserve what remains of its influence in this wounded and poor country”.