“Facing the Algerian regime, the time has come for firmness.” While France and Algeria are going through a new diplomatic crisis after the return of an Algerian to French territory, although expelled after calling for violent acts on TikTok, it was a former French prime minister who spoke.
In a column published on the Figaro website, Gabriel Attal denounced the Algerian regime that “for several weeks, several months, several years, has swept away all our outstretched hands and continues to put our country to the test,” writes Gabriel Attal.
“This bravado must be the last against the Algiers regime, France must set limits and assume the balance of power,” continues the leader of the Group of Deputies regarding the dismissal of the Algerian despite his expulsion. A few hours earlier, the Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, estimated that Algeria “seeks to humiliate France” with this matter.
“We do not intimidate France. We respect it and we do not provoke it without consequences,” believes Gabriel Attal, who calls for “establishing a normal and dispassionate relationship” between Paris and Algiers “made of mutual respect.”
“It is time to get rid of guilt trials and memorial rentals. It is time to put an end to destabilizing strategies. It is a question of respect for France,” says the former prime minister.
An agreement “unjustifiable for the French”
For this reason, he urges political leaders to “have the courage to denounce the Franco-Algerian agreement of 1968”, which has become “an immigration channel in itself, allowing family reunification and the settlement of people, without not even demand that they “know our language or show their integration.”
This agreement, which came into force six years after the independence of this former French colony, created a single status for Algerian nationals in terms of movement, residence and employment. A provision originally intended to facilitate economic immigration to meet the great need for labor in France at the beginning of the Thirty Glorious Years. Today, this agreement is strongly criticized in France by the right and the National Rally.
“It makes it practically impossible to withdraw residence permits from Algerian nationals, even for reasons of public order. It is unfair for other countries and unjustifiable for the French,” considers Gabriel Attal.
They ask for “firmness” and “mutual respect”
For this reason, the former Prime Minister wants to reduce the number of visas granted to Algerian nationals to “put pressure on and obtain a reaction from Algerian officials; efforts cannot always come only from the French side.”
Gabriel Attal also calls for a review of an agreement signed between both countries in 2007 that “allows all holders of Algerian diplomatic passports to come and move freely and without restrictions in France.”
“The result: Algerian dignitaries, although they despise our country, have a clear path to travel there or receive treatment, leaving behind a hospital debt to pay,” proposes the former prime minister. in particular, eliminate the “trade weapon” by increasing, “at European level”, customs tariffs with Algiers.
“Behind this diplomatic relationship that must be rebuilt on principles of firmness and mutual respect, what is at stake is France’s ability to be respected. There is an emergency,” Gabriel Attal finally concludes.
Source: BFM TV
