Macron’s Camp Adopts, Defends Escalation Against Algeria

In what appears to be a coordinated approach, just one day after French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau’s provocative statements regarding Algeria, his government colleague, Justice Minister Gérald Moussa Darmanin, came out in support, even backing, what he described as the “balance of power” approach to dealing with the complex and escalating diplomatic crisis with Algeria.

In a talk show on France Info on Thursday, April 24, Darmanin said he advocates continuing with the “balance of power” approach, claiming it is the best approach. He said, “This balance of power will be long-term. It’s not just a matter of a few weeks or months; it can sometimes last for years.”

However, he believes that “it is very difficult, because we also have relations in counter terrorism. Algeria is the only country that helps us against Islamic extremism, and there are also economic interests.” Darmanin expressed sympathy for Retailleau: “I can imagine the pressure on the Interior Minister.”

Gérald Darmanin is one of the ministers of the French president and a prominent member of the Renaissance party founded by Macron. This raises questions about the seriousness of the presidential camp’s adoption of a de-escalation option, given that the right-wing ministers, led by Bruno Retailleau, are the ones who advocate for escalation.

After a period of caution, Algeria has regained a strong presence in French political and media discourse. However, this presence was not voluntary. Rather, it is the French who insist on involving it in their daily debates. This demonstrates how important Algeria is to the French, and how incapable they are of keeping it at bay, even decades after their military, political, and moral defeat on its soil, in a war in which they used every means possible to maintain it as one of their overseas territories.

A day earlier, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau made statements that were nothing short of impudent and provocative. He reiterated his rhetoric, which is fraught with hostility toward all things Algerian, urging his country’s authorities, led by the Élysée Palace’s President Emmanuel Macron, to review or cancel bilateral agreements that, he claimed, grant privileges to Algerians.

Because the Algerian issue is so appealing to opinion makers in Parisian salons and TV channels, the French historian and leading expert on relations between the two countries, Benjamin Stora, was a guest on France Culture last Thursday night to Friday. The show’s host attempted to connect France’s colonial past in Algeria with its repercussions on the present. In contrast, Stora was adept at embodying this connection, which helps simplify understanding.

He noted the paradox embodied by the positions of the current Interior Minister, Bruno Rotailleau, who clings to the issue of Algerian-French relations, despite the criticism he has received on numerous occasions from his government colleagues, particularly from President Macron and Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, as well as prominent figures in the French political scene, such as former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, leader of the La France Insoumise party, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, and prominent parliamentary figures such as Mathilde Panot, Manuel Bompard, and others.

Commenting on the Retailleau phenomenon, Stora says, “When the Interior Minister clings to the Algerian issue, he reminds us of François Mitterrand’s (former President) statement that Algeria is France, a phrase he frequently repeated when he was Interior Minister during the French occupation.”

“Algeria was not under the Ministry of Colonies, as was the case with Tunisia, Morocco, and Senegal… but rather under the Interior Ministry, because it was a French province. This brings back to Algerians a painful past, in addition to their conviction that France does not treat Algeria as a sovereign state,” Benjamin Stora added.

The paradox here, according to the specialist in bilateral relations, is that what the “Republicans” LR party, the Gaullist party, which Bruno Retailleau seeks to lead, is doing today contradicts the Gaullist values (named after former President Charles de Gaulle), which worked to end colonialism. Meanwhile, the current Interior Minister is working against these values by continuing to consider the Algerian issue as if nothing had changed after 1962, which is unacceptable to Algerians.