What is going on between Algeria and France?

Earlier this week Algeria accused France of "unacceptable and blatant interference" after President Emmanuel Macron said Algiers was "dishonoring itself" by keeping French Algerian writer Boualem Sansal behind bars on national security charges. 

Sansal, a literary figure who has been critical of the Algerian authorities, was arrested at Algiers airport in November last year and has been kept in custody, despite calls from Paris for his release. The Algerian foreign ministry responded by saying that Macron's comments "can only be rejected and condemned for they are blatant and unacceptable interference in an internal Algerian affair". 

Tensions between the two countries go back almost two centuries to the long colonization of Algeria by France and the bloody Algerian war of independence, which ended in 1962. The Algerian war has continued over the years to define bilateral relations, while the Algerian community in France is the largest diaspora in the country, with almost a million dual nationals.

The legacy of colonial disputes mixed in with the ebb and flow of Algerian and French political life, and the complexities of North African geopolitics, have led to a volatile relationship, or at least one that isn’t ordinary. Former Algerian president Houari Boumediene (1965-1978) said in 1974 that “relations between France and Algeria can be good or bad, but in no case can they be banal."

In October 2021, ties between Algeria and France took a significant turn after Macron was reported to have questioned whether Algeria had existed as a nation before French colonialism. He also decried Algiers’ “political-military system” of rewriting history in a discourse of “hatred towards France”. The comments also followed a French decision to reduce by half the number of visas it issued to Algerians. That prompted Algeria to withdraw its ambassador.

Last summer, Algeria again withdrew its ambassador from Paris, after Macron wrote to King Mohammed VI confirming France's support for Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. The Moroccan autonomy plan from 2007 now being the only valid starting point for discussions aimed at finding a political solution.

So here we are again, as Sansal's arrest seems to have exposed further tension between France and Algeria over a range of issues. Within the last fortnight various Algerian bloggers or influencers have been arrested by French authorities for inciting acts of terrorism on social media. In addition, referencing Sansal's case last week, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said he had "doubts" over Algeria's commitment to a roadmap set out by the two sides in 2022 to smooth post-colonial relations. What seems clear is that nothing is certain now between the two nations; trade and the supply of gas to Europe as well as Algeria’s relationship with Russia all play into the mix as well. It is for sure a rocky start to 2025 for the two nations.

*Kieran Baker is an Emmy award winning journalist who has started up various networks including Al Jazeera English, Bloomberg TV Africa and TRT World.