The French far-right drags the European Union into a new “lie”

After the falsity of claims about French financial aid to Algeria was proven, which the far-right tried to use as a bargaining chip in internal French political negotiations, and in the crisis affecting relations between Algeria and Paris, this political current, obsessed with Algeria, resorted to another trick, also claiming that Algeria received financial aid from the European Union.

This statement came from Jordan Bardella, the leader of the “National Rally” party, formerly known as the far-right “National Front” founded by Jean-Marie Le Pen, a supporter of the terrorist Secret Army Organization (OAS).

This man found nothing to support his political discourse, hoping to attract new supporters, except to drag Algeria into France’s suffocating political and economic crisis, which now threatens the continuation of the Fifth Republic.

Jordan Bardella, in an interview on the news channel “BFM TV” on Saturday, August 30, 2025, while discussing the economic crisis afflicting his country, addressed the journalist interviewing him, saying: “Why don’t we look for money in public development aid, and the billions of euros that we provide to foreign countries, for example, to Algeria through the European Union… at a time when one out of three French citizens in overseas territories cannot access potable water.”

The far-right current only resorted to the “EU funds” card after the “French funds” card was burned, following the confirmation by Rémy Rioux, Director General of the French Development Agency, of the falsity of the “alleged” aid to the Algerian state, when he admitted that: “France has no activities in Algeria, and we do not provide funding there.”

Before that, many far-right politicians in France claimed that Paris provided financial aid to Algeria. Sarah Knafo, a deputy from the Reconquest party led by Éric Zemmour, was the one who fabricated this lie, speaking of an imaginary amount close to one billion euros, which prompted the Algerian authorities to file a lawsuit against her. This forced the French Embassy in Algeria to issue clarifications at the time, which were not accurate.

It indicated that the volume of French development aid granted to Algeria in 2022 amounted to 132 million euros, with the lion’s share going as scholarships for Algerian students in France, under conditions that do not necessarily adhere to clear and precise standards.

The lie about development aid was only one of many French maneuvers that took various forms as the political and diplomatic crisis between the two countries escalated. There was also talk of debts owed by Algeria to French hospitals, before the falsity of those accusations also became apparent, as the Algerian News Agency responded with evidence. Subsequently, the Algerian authorities decided to prohibit the conclusion of any agreements with France in this regard, and to transfer patients to Belgium and Turkey.

A large segment of politicians in France, especially those with right-wing and far-right leanings, tend to invoke Algeria in political debates among factions as elections approach, a scene that confirms that the French have not yet overcome their complex with this country, which forced them to kneel, after believing for more than a century and a quarter that Algeria had become part of French territory, based on the decree signed by the rulers of Paris 48 years after the start of the occupation, which made Algeria an overseas department of Paris.