The background of the new French Prime Minister threatens the continuation of the crisis with Algeria

Observers of Algerian-French relations are awaiting the political developments sweeping the Fifth Republic. They note the appointment of former Minister of Defense, Sébastien Lecornu, as the new Prime Minister, succeeding the ousted François Bayrou, who bears a large share of responsibility for the crisis that overshadowed relations with Algeria, plunging them into an unprecedented dark tunnel.

Questions focus on the political identity and ideological background of the newcomer to the Matignon Palace. This information helps to gain at least an initial understanding of the man’s perspective and vision for managing the crisis with Algeria, given its negative repercussions on a wide segment of both peoples, socially, economically, and culturally.

France 24 describes the new Prime Minister as a copy of French President Emmanuel Macron. He has not left successive governments since the current president came to power at the Élysée Palace in 2017, holding many ministerial portfolios, such as the Overseas Territories portfolio and the Minister for Local Authorities portfolio. His last portfolio was in the fallen government, as Minister of the French Armed Forces.

However, presenting him as a copy of the French President does not necessarily mean that he believes in Macron’s ideas as a political figure oscillating between the center and center-right. The new Prime Minister only joined Macron’s party in 2017. The period before that was spent in the conservative right-wing party, affiliated with the Gaullist movement “Union for a Popular Movement,” which is now called “The Republicans,” headed by Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau since last May, and which has lost many of the known Gaullist values.

The welcome of Bruno Retailleau, head of the right-wing “The Republicans” party, to the appointment of Sébastien Lecornu as head of the executive branch, and his praise as a “non-leftist politician,” indicates that the man is convinced of right-wing values, which are usually imbued with France’s imperial spirit. Hence, his yearning for the colonial past of this empire, whose supporters are still shocked by the independence of Algeria, which they considered an extended part of France’s overseas territories.

As a former minister in François Bayrou’s government, Sébastien Lecornu witnessed the intensity of the political and diplomatic crisis between Algeria and Paris. His statements regarding this crisis can be examined to allow observers to gain at least a relative understanding of his vision for dealing with the escalating crisis with Algeria.

In an interview with “Le Journal du Dimanche” in January 2025, the new Prime Minister, in his capacity as Minister of the French Armed Forces, attacked Algeria, stating: “We can no longer tolerate the use of attacks against France as a source of internal political gains by a segment of the Algerian political class.” The same interview also condemned what he described as “anti-French sentiments.”

Sébastien Lecornu’s statement at the time was followed by Algeria’s decision to refuse to receive the Franco-Algerian influencer, Boualem Doualmen, who was deported by the then Interior Minister, Bruno Retailleau, outside the laws and consular norms, and the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. He also called for not allowing the crisis to halt security and intelligence cooperation between the two countries.

Although the new Prime Minister belongs to Macron’s party (Renaissance), which is considered centrist, his ideological and political background leans to the right. He has worked with many right-wing politicians, most recently the former right-wing Prime Minister, François Fillon. He only left the latter and joined Macron after Fillon’s fall in the “fictitious jobs” scandal involving his wife Penelope in 2017.

Sébastien Lecornu also received a conservative religious upbringing, having been educated in a private Catholic educational institution. This is a background he shares with many of his peers in the traditional conservative right, such as Bruno Retailleau, who is charged with the civilizational conflict between religions. This is another indicator that he will be a link between Macron and his allied right-wing circles, which makes the hypothesis of the continuation of the iron fist policy between Algeria and Paris likely, at least during his tenure at the Matignon Palace.