French politicians accuse Macron’s government of being stupid with Algeria

The intervention of French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau in his country’s foreign affairs, especially in relations with Algeria, has become the talk of public opinion in France, to the point that this issue has been criticized by the political elite in Paris, who warned of the dangers of continuing the current situation, at a time when the French agree that their President Emmanuel Macron is the cause of what is happening now between Algeria and Paris, due to the decision he took last summer to support the Moroccan regime in the Sahrawi issue.

Eric Cockrall, a lawmaker for the left-wing party France Unite, headed by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, accused the Francois Bayrou government of committing “rare stupidity” and a “historic mistake” after imposing restrictions on the entry of official Algerian figures to France.

The French Foreign Minister had announced measures taken by the government, the nature of which he did not reveal, including preventing certain Algerian figures from entering French territory.
These proposals were raised earlier by the former French ambassador to Algeria, Xavier Driencourt, and the reference there to an agreement made in 2007 between the foreign ministers of the two countries and signed on the Algerian side by the late Mourad Medelci and on the French side by Bernard Kouchner, which requires the entry of diplomatic passport holders to both countries without a visa.

The leftist MP for Seine-Saint-Denis asked: “Are we thinking about our six million citizens who, in one way or another, have a connection to Algeria?” He accused Retailleau of ‘acting with a racist background’ and emphasized that ”French diplomacy has to start working.” There are no official figures on the number of the Algerian community living in France, but some put the number at between seven and ten million.

While the French foreign minister is proposing European-wide visa restrictions, MP Eric Cockerill argues that “this would serve no purpose” and emphasizes that “the issue is not to punish the Algerian people, but to gain respect in our relations with Algeria,” he told French TV channel BFMTV.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot and government spokeswoman Sophie Brima have always emphasized that foreign policy, especially the relationship with Algeria, remains the exclusive prerogative of French President Emmanuel Macron and the Foreign Ministry, but Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau  ignores these warnings and pokes his nose into provoking Algeria with fiery statements charged with far-right ideology hostile to Algeria and its interests.

Fabien Roussel, leader of the French Communist Party, emphasized the need to let French diplomacy work without the interference of the interior minister, saying: “It’s a matter of diplomatic relations,” he said, calling on his country’s interior minister to ”let the president of the (French) Republic and the foreign minister do what they want.”

The French politician pointed to the role that Macron’s recognition of the Alaouite regime’s alleged sovereignty over Western Sahara played in the deterioration of Algerian-French relations, saying that “Algeria considered it a betrayal and a stab in the back.”

Despite the escalation, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot still hopes to receive the green light from Algeria to discuss the contentious issues, which has not happened so far. He also noted that he had recently had contact with his Algerian counterpart, Ahmed Attaf, and from his words it seems that no progress has been made, as evidenced by what  Retailleau announced on Tuesday.