Diplomatic tensions between Algeria and France are experiencing a new escalation. Algiers officially announced its rejection of what it describes as “ultimatum” of Paris, emphasizing the respect of the 1968 agreements, which govern the status of Algerians in France in terms of traffic, stay and employment.
The Algerian announcement occurs while France is considering a unilateral revision of these historic agreements. This text, concluded after the independence of Algeria, grants an exceptional regime to Algerian nationals wishing to reside and work in France. Paris judges these now obsolete provisions and wishes to modify them as part of a broader overhaul of its migration policy.
For his part, Algiers sees in this approach a questioning of bilateral commitments and a lack of consideration for historical relations between the two countries. “Algeria refuses any diktat and insists on respecting international commitments,” said a government source quoted by the local press.
The migratory question remains at the heart of tensions between the two countries. France seeks to limit the arrival of new Algerian nationals and to strengthen the procedures for reducing borders in the event of an irregular stay. In response, Algiers defends the achievements of its citizens and highlights the need for concerted solutions, far from any unilaterally imposed measure.
This tension is added to other sensitive files in Franco-Algerian relations, in particular the question of colonial memory, the repatriation of archives or even cooperation in terms of security and energy.
