Algeria wants to ‘humiliate’ us in row over influencer, says France’s interior minister

 

Algeria wants to ‘humiliate’ us in row over influencer, says France’s interior minister

 

Algerian social media personalities calling for violence in France have exacerbated the already fraught relationship between Paris and Algiers.

 

January 10, 2025 4:25 pm CET

By Clea Caulcutt

https://www.politico.eu/article/france-algeria-wants-humiliate-us-bruno-retailleau/

 

PARIS — France’s tit-for-tat confrontation with Algeria has just notched up a level.

 

French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau accused Algeria on Friday of trying to “humiliate” France when it refused to accept an Algerian national expelled from French territory by Paris.

 

The individual, an influencer who goes by “Doualemn,” was returned to his home country on Thursday after he was detained for sharing videos on TikTok calling on his followers to harm a critic of the Algerian regime. The videos have since been taken down.

 

But instead of taking him in, the north African country simply sent him back.

 

“Algeria is seeking to humiliate France,” Retailleau, a conservative with hardline views on immigration, said on the sidelines of a visit to the western city of Nantes. “I believe we have reach a extremely worrying threshold with Algeria.”

 

Tensions have been rising between Paris and Algiers in recent weeks over the activity of Algerian influencers accused of attempting to incite violence in France or against members of the Algerian opposition — in some cases purportedly with the blessing of Algerian officials, according to reports in French media.

 

The two countries are also at loggerheads over the fate of Boualem Sansal, a 75-year-old writer and outspoken critic of the Algerian regime, who was detained after stepping off a plane in Algiers in November. He is currently in hospital.

 

On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron called for Sansal’s release and said his treatment is “a story that disgraces [Algeria]”, sparking an immediate rebuke from across the Mediterranean.

 

Relations between France and its former colony have been fraught for decades. Past grievances over Algeria’s bloody war of independence have been kept alive, fueled by a growing discontent in France over immigration and, according to French officials, an Algerian regime who uses anger against France to shore up its support.

 

The relationship deteriorated further last year when Macron decided to recognize an autonomy plan for the Western Sahara region by taking Morocco’s side in a long-running territorial dispute between regional rivals Rabat and Algiers. By siding with Morocco, the French president effectively closed the door on the possibility of reconciliation with Algeria before he leaves office in 2027.

 

The bad blood is unlikely to go away the short term. Retailleau on Friday promised to examine “all the means” at their disposal to put pressure on Algeria to take back expelled nationals.

 

“We can’t carry on with this situation,” he said.