French Interior Minister Admits Failure of the “Iron Fist Policy” With Algeria

The new French Interior Minister, Laurent Nunez, acknowledged that the iron-fist policy pursued by the fallen government of François Bayrou with Algeria, under pressure from his predecessor, Bruno Retailleau, had not achieved anything for Paris. He considered the lack of communication between the two capitals to be a factor that hinders him from performing his duties properly.

During his appearance as a guest on the far-right Europe 1 channel on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, the new Lord of the Beauvau Palace said, “We are truly in a tight grip with the Algerian authorities, but we have not achieved anything. One of the consequences of this is the lack of any communication between the two parties on the security level, and this is worrying to me as Interior Minister.”

Nunez was referring to the failure of all deportation operations led by the former Interior Minister against Algerians who were issued mandatory departure orders (OQTF) without obtaining authorisation from Algerian consulates. This forced the Algerian side to return them on the planes that had flown them. At the time, Retailleau considered the Algerian position an “insult” to France.

In his second media appearance since assuming the Interior Ministry portfolio, Laurent Nunez maintained his new approach, aiming to break with the practices of the former Interior Minister, Bruno Retailleau, regarding the management of the crisis with Algeria. This stems from his firm conviction that the ministry is not a political platform, considering its sole focus on ensuring the security of the French.

To this end, Nunez insisted on the need to move towards Algeria in the hope of building bridges of communication, saying, “There must be movement in French-Algerian relations.” However, this desire remains hostage to the constraints of the dire reality of bilateral relations, which the French side bears, particularly President Emmanuel Macron himself, who is seen in Algeria as destroying the intermittent rapprochement between the two countries.

Nunez laments the difficult situation he will face in his new position: “We no longer have security relations, and that’s a problem.” Paris wants to at least resume security cooperation between the two countries to confront the challenge of terrorism, as Algeria has decided to halt all contacts with Paris at all levels since the French president decided to support the Moroccan regime in the Western Sahara issue more than a year ago.

Despite attempts by Sonia Mabrouk, a French journalist of Tunisian origin, to draw Laurent Nunez into some sensitive issues in bilateral relations, such as the 1968 immigration agreement and the controversy surrounding French social security debts, Nunez was very cautious, assuring her that his interview would be limited to the security dimension, as it falls within the purview of the Interior Ministry. He responded firmly, “I’ll leave it at that.”

Nunez’s retreat from the “gradual response” policy toward Algeria, pursued by the former Interior Minister, has sparked widespread anger among the right and far right, who are obsessed with everything related to Algeria. The first to comment on the new Interior Minister’s approach were Jordan Bardella, leader of the National Rally party, run by the Le Pen family, and Éric Ciotti, former president of Les Républicains, who was expelled from the party following his alliance with Marine Le Pen in last summer’s legislative elections.

Bardella commented on Nunez’s statements on X, saying: “This morning, Nunez Laurent, afraid to use the words ‘assimilation’ and ‘migratory flooding,’ refusing to establish the obvious and documented link between uncontrolled immigration and insecurity, capitulates to the Algerian regime. What difference would it have made if a socialist had been appointed in Beauvau’s place? Petrified by the groupthink and what people will say about the left, the Minister of the Interior condemns himself to impotence at a time when our country is experiencing unprecedented migratory and security chaos.
Bardella tried to accuse Laurent Nunez of surrendering to Algeria in reference to the fact that the new Interior Minister embraces the Socialist Party’s positions.

Eric Ciotti, leader of the Union of the Right (UDR), commented on X that: “Submission to socialism is total. The Minister of the Interior, Nunez Laurent, denies the link between immigration and delinquency. Refuses to talk about assimilation. Refuses to talk about migratory submersion.”