France expels 12 Algerian diplomats in tit-for-tat escalation
Paris decided to retaliate symmetrically after the expulsion on Monday of 12 of its diplomats from Algeria.
PARIS — Paris announced on Tuesday it was expelling 12 Algerian diplomats in a tit-for-tat escalation with Algiers, deepening the crisis between the two countries.
"France takes note with dismay of the Algerian authorities' decision to expel 12 diplomatic agents serving with our embassy in Algiers. This decision, which ignores the elementary rules of our judicial procedures, is unjustified and incomprehensible," read a statement issued by the Elysee Palace Tuesday evening. The statement added that "in this context, France will proceed symmetrically with the expulsion of 12 agents serving in the Algerian consular and diplomatic network in France. The President of the Republic has decided to recall the French Ambassador to Algiers, Stephane Romatet, for consultations."
According to French channel BFMTV, the 12 expelled French diplomats are already en route to Paris. France, mirroring Algeria’s move, has given the Algerian officials 48 hours to leave Paris.
Algeria's decision comes a week after French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot visited Algiers in an effort to reconcile relations between the two countries, but on Friday, France detained three Algerians suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of an Algerian TikTok influencer last year, further straining relations.
Three main issues have clouded the ties between France and Algeria in the last four years: immigration, the Western Sahara, and the case of Algerian-French writer Boualem Sansal, a vocal critic of Islamism and the Algerian government, who was arrested last November at the Algiers airport.
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said Tuesday he believes Algeria “has its back to the wall.” Speaking on CNews, Retailleau stated that Algeria “has two choices: either escalation or dialogue,” and urged it to respect previous agreements with France to repatriate expelled illegal immigrants.
Nawal and Sabeha, the daughters of Sansal, published an open letter Tuesday in Le Figaro, calling on President Emmanuel Macron to secure their father's release. “He is ill. He’s a writer. And he’s locked up. Not for a crime, not for a fault, but for what every democracy should cherish: his words, his thoughts, his freedom,” they wrote.
As of 2019, France’s National Statistics Agency estimated that around 850,000 Algerians reside in France along with more than 1.2 million children born to Algerian immigrants, making it the largest diaspora community in the country. The actual number is believed to be higher, as many Algerians are thought to be living in France without legal status.
Trade ties between the two countries remain strong. According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, France exported $4.36 billion worth of goods to Algeria in 2023, while Algerian exports to France totaled $7.29 billion.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
