Algeria Expels French Intelligence Officers Disguised as Diplomats

Nothing on the horizon indicates the possibility of Algerian-French relations regaining their calm, after nearly ten months of an unprecedented crisis. This scene was embodied by new statements from the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, who said that bilateral relations are “frozen,” statements that followed Algeria’s expulsion of two French intelligence officers who had disguised themselves as diplomats and came to work in Algeria.
In a new “exit” by the French Foreign Minister on Sunday, May 11, during an interview with “France Info” and the newspaper “Le Monde,” he said that relations between France and Algeria are “completely frozen” since the Algerian authorities expelled 12 officials working at the French Embassy in Algiers in mid-April.
What is striking is that this escalation came at a time when a French parliamentary delegation (deputies and senators) was in Algeria to participate in the commemoration of the heinous massacres of May 8, 1945, committed by the French occupation army, an occasion that saw the Chargé d’Affaires of the French Embassy in Algiers travel to the city of Sétif to also commemorate the anniversary, in addition to his country’s call to resume the work of the memory committee, which consists of historians from both countries, which has been suspended since last summer.
The head of French diplomacy tried to play the memory card when he said, “The Sétif massacres deserve to be commemorated. Furthermore, the French Embassy in Algiers laid a wreath on this occasion,” adding, “This is part of the truth-telling logic that France has pursued since 2017.”
However, the Algerian side does not view what Macron has done regarding memory as an achievement to be celebrated, as his positions have remained hostage to the balances within the decision-making circles in Paris since 2017. In that year, Macron described the French colonization of Algeria as a crime against humanity, but this bold stance lasted only a few hours, as he retracted it as soon as he returned to French soil.
As for the recognition of the French state’s responsibility for the liquidation of the activist Maurice Audin, the lawyer of the revolution Ali Boumendjel, and the martyr Larbi Ben M’hidi, these remain actions devoid of any value, as they aim to dilute the French state’s responsibility for its heinous crimes in Algeria.
As is customary for the Emmanuel Macron administration, the French Foreign Minister did not hesitate to blame Algeria for the state of bilateral relations, citing the Algerian authorities’ decision to expel 12 officials working at the French Embassy in Algiers, while ignoring the main reason, which is the decision of the French President, Emmanuel Macron, last summer to violate international law and relevant United Nations resolutions regarding the Sahrawi issue, despite his awareness of the sensitivity of this issue for the Algerian authorities.
Sunday, May 11, witnessed an official French presence on channels and newspapers, and Algeria was always present in the discussion, which also happened in the interview given by the French Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, to three media outlets, namely the parliamentary channel “LCP,” the newspaper “Le Figaro,” and the radio station “RTL,” where Retailleau reacted to the memorandum issued by the Algerian judiciary against the Franco-Algerian writer Kamel Daoud, who is on the run from the case filed against him by the victim Saada Araban.
On the other hand, Algerian officials do not talk much about the crisis with France, but they strike at the right time. The advisor to the Presidency of the Republic, Faisal Metaoui, revealed in a statement to “Algeria 24” news channel that the Algerian authorities had expelled two members of the French Internal Security Directorate (DGSI) after they entered the country disguised with “diplomatic passports,” which is considered a violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963, and this incident is the second of its kind in less than a month.
The two Frenchmen expelled from Algeria work under the authority of the Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, the number one enemy of the Algerian authorities, due to his hostile statements towards Algeria with or without reason, knowing that the Algerian authorities had expelled 12 members of the same agency on the 15th of last month.

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