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French Media’s Reactions to President Tebboune’s Interview

Mohamed Moslem / English version: Dalila Henache
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French Media’s Reactions to President Tebboune’s Interview

The traditional French media varied in their responses to President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s lengthy interview with the daily “L’Opinion.”

This is President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s first interview with French media since the diplomatic crisis started between Algeria and Paris about six months ago.

The majority of French newspapers and websites were content to recycle a cable from Agence France-Presse (AFP), including the well-known daily “Le Monde”, which spoke about the damage that had recently befallen bilateral relations, and about Algeria’s conditions in exchange for resuming the suspended dialogue between the two parties.

On the contrary, the far-right daily newspaper Le Figaro devoted five articles to the interview with President Tebboune in its Monday issue, according to a detailed search on its website, noting that this newspaper had conducted a lengthy interview with President Tebboune during his first presidential term.

The newspaper devoted two articles and a telegram to Agence France-Presse (AFP), in addition to two accompanied by a podcast, all of which addressed the various sensitive points raised by President Tebboune in bilateral relations, indicating the importance attached by “Le Figaro”, which is considered the first right-wing media platform in France, which has increased its hostility towards Algeria, since the imprisonment of the Franco-Algerian writer, Boualem Sansal, and Algeria’s refusal to receive the influential “Boualem”, who was deported by the Interior Minister, Bruno Retailleau, in violation of the legal and diplomatic frameworks.

The newspaper tried to find loopholes in the interview to target President Tebboune, and among the things analyzed was the question related to the decision of US President Donald Trump to deport several illegal Algerian immigrants, as part of the comprehensive deportation campaign he launched against foreign nationals, and Algeria’s position on that.

A journalist from “L’Opinion” asked President Tebboune whether Algeria would receive its 306 citizens deported from the United States. In an attempt to embarrass him for his refusal to accept the reception of influential “Boualem”, he responded in the affirmative: “We will do so because this request is legal. The American president has no ulterior motives related to Algerian immigration to the United States. At the same time, the French National Front program has systematically attacked Islam and immigration since the late Jean-Marie Le Pen, with Algeria as a scapegoat.”

This position did not please the right-wing newspaper, which titled it “Yes to Washington, No to France”, in an attempt to flatten the migrant crisis with a large difference. It criticised the Algerian side for not issuing consular permits to illegal Algerian migrants awaiting deportation to Algeria.

The newspaper also devoted a special article to the case of the Franco-Algerian writer, Boualem Sansal, which has been the arena for a media war between the two countries for months, in addition to another article by the leader of the far-right, Marine Le Pen, who threatened to copy the way US President Donald Trump deals with Algerian immigrants if she comes to power.

Le Figaro’s way of dealing with President Tebboune’s interview with L’Opinion reveals that it places the crisis with Algeria before any internal French issue. This position confirms that Algeria has become an obsession for the far right and its media arms, most notably the media group owned by Vincent Bolloré, who was criticized by President Tebboune in his interview. Bolloré controls a large number of French media, all of which are targeting Algeria and its diaspora while defending and embracing the attack launched by the far right against it.

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