French President Emmanuel Macron has asked his government to tighten visa requirements for Algerian diplomats, as the diplomatic crisis over the deportation of Algerian nationals escalates.
In a letter to Prime Minister François Bayrou, published by Le Figaro newspaper on Wednesday, Macron said the growing difficulties that France is encountering in terms of migration and security with Algeria required a tougher stance against the former French colony.
Macron requested that Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot officially notify Algeria of the suspension of a 2013 agreement that exempted diplomatic and official passport holders from visa requirements.
He also requested that France's interior minister ask countries in the Schengen zone – which allow passport-free travel between their borders – to help France apply the tighter visa policy, notably by consulting France on the issue of short-stay visas for the Algerian officials in question and the passports covered by the 2013 agreement.
"France must be strong and command respect. It can only receive this from its partners if it shows them the respect it demands from them. This basic rule also applies to Algeria," Macron wrote.
Paris and Algiers have been embroiled for more than a year in an unprecedented diplomatic crisis that has resulted in the expulsion of officials on both sides, the recall of ambassadors from both countries and restrictions on holders of diplomatic visas.
France to clamp down on Algerian dignitaries’ travel amid deportation dispute
Tensions grew last July when France recognised Morocco's sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara, which Rabat wants the international community to recognise as Moroccan.
Relations deteriorated further in February this year when an Algerian citizen whom France had long unsuccessfully tried to repatriate was arrested as the suspect in a knife attack in the eastern French city of Mulhouse, which killed one person and injured three.
Sensitive bilateral issues
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has repeatedly called for the review of Franco-Algerian migration and visa arrangements, following Algerian authorities' refusal to take back its citizens who have been ordered to leave France under the "OQTF" (obligation to leave French territory) deportation regime.
In July, the government indicated that France was "in the process" of restricting the conditions of travel to France for a "certain number of Algerian dignitaries" after Algiers' refusal to take back 120 of its nationals under this scheme.
Algeria court upholds writer Boualem Sansal's five-year jail term
In his letter, Macron also cited concerns for the French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who was sentenced to five years in prison in Algeria for "undermining national unity," and French journalist Christophe Gleizes, sentenced to seven years in prison in the country for "apology for terrorism."
Paris considers their sentences arbitrary and has called for their release.
"The response of the Algerian authorities to our demands regarding migration and consular cooperation will determine our next steps," Macron wrote.
"Once dialogue has been reestablished, we will also have to address other sensitive bilateral issues," he continued, citing "hospital debt," "the actions of certain Algerian state services on national territory, and also outstanding memorial issues".
Despite his firm tone, Macron promised that his "objective remains to restore effective and ambitious relations with Algeria".
(with newswires)
