Sarkozy Begs President Tebboune For Sansal’s Release

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy weighed in on the crisis plaguing Algerian-French relations, and what he said was expected given his position as one of the figures of the right-wing current hostile to Algeria, even though French justice has proven his involvement in corruption cases and removed him from the political arena.

In an interview with the right-wing newspaper “Le Figaro”, Nicolas Sarkozy was asked if the stance of French President Emmanuel Macron, who abandoned the diplomatic position towards Algeria and decided to escalate this summer, was sufficient for Paris to achieve what it hoped for regarding its former colony?

The former French president’s response was completely consistent with Macron’s recent stance, which abandoned his traditional position by calling on his Prime Minister, François Bayrou, to what he called “firmness” in dealing with Algeria, after Macron had criticized the stance of his Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau and rejected his approach, which adopted escalation with Algeria from the beginning.

Sarkozy said: “Let us be as firm with Algeria as it allows itself to be with France, which gives the unpleasant impression that it no longer knows how to apply international law and human rights.” He added: “I regret to say that France’s position is difficult to understand. I thought that foreign affairs were the prerogative of the President of the Republic, but this prerogative has been delegated to a Prime Minister under scrutiny, through a threatening letter demanding more firmness towards Algeria! For what purpose? Nothing.”

Sarkozy held the French president responsible for the continued imprisonment of the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal and the sports journalist Christophe Galtier due to his weak stance, and said that this matter “is no longer acceptable. It is time to put an end to this abnormal situation: the 1968 agreements are no longer valid. There is no reason to mistreat Algeria more than other countries, but there is also no longer any reason to favor it.”

He also called for stricter visa issuance for Algerian nationals: “France issues 250,000 visas annually to Algerians, and at the same time requests the return of thousands of Algerian migrants who have been issued expulsion orders from French territory, who have not been deported because the Algerian authorities refuse to receive them. To my knowledge, since last January, Algeria has not received any of its illegal migrants.”

Therefore, Sarkozy, who has been issued several judicial prison sentences for his involvement in corruption cases, added, “We must be firmer and stricter regarding visa issuance. For example, by imposing this simple rule: issuing one visa for every migrant who has been ordered to leave French territory. Or even five or ten visas for each of them. Let us finally adopt the principle of reciprocity. And on one essential condition, of course, the release of our citizens.”

In return, the former French president pleaded with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune: “I understand that we must trust the generosity and humanity of the Algerian president…”, hoping that this would lead to a decision to release both the Franco-Algerian writer, Boualem Sansal, and the sports journalist, Christophe Galtier.