“Restriction and access restriction and access to the national territory measures for certain Algerian dignitaries have been taken” by France, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot on BFMTV revealed on Tuesday February 25. “These are measures which are reversible and which will stretch as the cooperation to which we call will resume,” he added, on the eve of an inter-ministerial meeting on immigration control against the backdrop of major diplomatic crisis with Algiers.
The head of French diplomacy has not specified since when these measures are in force or how many people they aimed. These measures have been decided to “advance or defend the interests of the French”, he justified, evoking the release of the writer Boualem Sansal imprisoned in Algeria or even “the readmission of Algerians in an irregular situation”.
Jean-Noël Barrot also said he was “ready to take more” if Franco-Algerian cooperation “is not resumed”. “But I will always do it wisely and without necessarily advertising it,” he warned.
Force report vs diplomacy
His statements come as soon as the position to be adopted vis-à-vis Algiers deeply divides the French government between supporters of the “balance of power”, like the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau, and those who argue for The diplomatic way like Jean-Noël Barrot.
A 37 -year -old Algerian in an irregular situation is accused of having killed a person with a person and of having injured seven others on Saturday in Mulhouse. Prime Minister François Bayrou has since charged Algeria, deeming “unacceptable” his refusal in ten times to take over the alleged assailant and promising to show the “determination” of Paris, which could initiate retaliatory measures this week, in particular on visas.