Macron Fears Algerians And Has Brought Humiliation To France!

Former French Interior Minister and leader of the right-wing “Republicans” party, Bruno Retailleau, accused French President Emmanuel Macron of bringing humiliation to his country due to his continued “subservience” to Algeria in the escalating crisis that has plagued bilateral relations for over a year now. He expressed a sense of regret as he spoke about the Élysée Palace and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Quai d’Orsay) thwarting the “iron fist” policy he had tried to impose on the former government of François Bayrou.

Bruno Retailleau was asked on Saturday, December 6, on a talk show on “BFM TV” whether Macron had been humiliated by Algeria. He replied, “It is France that has been humiliated,” holding the French President fully responsible. He stated that Macron had failed to establish a balance of power in the strained relations with Algeria, as Algeria constantly tries to present France as a “sacrifice” in the ongoing crisis.

The leader of the right-wing “Republicans” party said, “There is a great imbalance in Algerian-French relations. For some time, France has appeared subservient to Algeria.” Yet, the French President remains unable to correct the situation, despite the fact that Algeria needs France, not the other way around. He clarified, “There is nothing we expect from Algeria. They are the ones who expect a lot from us.”

Bruno Retailleau added, “There is great hatred for France from the Algerian authorities. They are weaving hatred against France. We must break free from this sick relationship and establish equal relations. When Algeria does not want to implement bilateral agreements, we should not implement them either, especially the 1968 agreement which grants exclusive privileges to Algerian nationals.”

He also accused the French authorities of abandoning sports journalist Christophe Gleizer , who was sentenced to seven years in prison in Algeria. He explained, “His brother told me that the family respected the directives and were cautious from the beginning, they did not act and refrained from making statements and refused to establish a support committee, then what was the result?” The result was the confirmation of the appealed sentence of seven years in prison.

The former French Interior Minister lamented the situation of French interests in the former colony, especially on the cultural and economic levels. He said, “The French language has been excluded in Algeria” from the educational scene, referring to the decisions taken by the Ministry of Education that promoted the English language in schools.

French companies were also blacklisted, deprived of deals and projects, and French wheat was excluded from tenders issued by the National Inter-professional Office for Cereals.

According to the former Interior Minister, there are several hidden reasons behind France’s weak stance towards Algeria, primarily the French President’s fear of residents of certain neighborhoods. He said that Macron fears the reactions of residents of these neighborhoods, referring to the strong Algerian community residing in the suburbs of large French cities.

Bruno Retailleau perhaps recalled the stance of his former right-wing leader, Nicolas Sarkozy, when he was Interior Minister in 2004, who was racist in his statements at the time, describing residents of the suburbs as “scum.” This caused one of the most significant security disturbances, as thousands of suburban residents revolted against those statements, clashing with French security and gendarmerie forces and causing significant property damage.

Retailleau tried to clear himself of the failure France suffered in the escalating crisis with Algeria, considering that he was a minister during the most intense phase of this crisis, having served as Interior Minister for over a year. He said, “The policy of firmness that I advocated for could not be implemented because the Élysée Palace and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs opposed it,” ignoring that many of the decisions he proposed and called for were implemented, most notably the reduction of visas, yet they were unable to achieve anything significant.

The leader of the “Republicans” party continued, criticizing the reversal of his position within the government, “It is unreasonable to grant them (Algerians) 250,000 visas while they do not issue consular permits to receive their nationals, and I have spoken with interior ministers in the European Union to link this to that,” which the Algerian authorities have denied on more than one occasion, asserting that the French side does not respect the consular laws and agreements binding the two countries.

Retailleau’s aggressive speech towards Algeria aims to rehabilitate his position, which was damaged by his failure to achieve any progress in the conflict with Algeria, and to blame the French presidency. He also tried to exploit the confirmation of the judicial decision against Christophe Gleizer to re-market the “iron fist” policy with Algeria, which he said he was unable to implement due to the opposition of the Élysée and Quai d’Orsay palaces.