France will have “no other option but to retaliate” if “the Algerians continue with this escalatory posture,” the French Foreign Minister declared this Friday, January 10. A statement that comes as an Algerian influencer deported to Algeria on Thursday was returned to France.
Among “the levers that we could activate” are “visas (…), development aid” or even “some other cooperation issues,” explained Jean-Noël Barrot at LCI, expressing himself “surprised” by the fact that the Algerian government authorities “refused to take in one of their nationals”, whose case is now “judicialized” in France. Threats emerging as tensions between Paris and Algiers continue to grow in recent weeks.
The fiasco of the failed expulsion of an Algerian influencer
This Thursday, Algeria rejected the expulsion of the influencer Doualemn, who “seeks to humiliate France”, according to the Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau. The influencer had been arrested on Saturday, January 4 in Montpellier after calling for violent acts on his Tiktok channel.
The Montpellier prosecutor’s office had opened an investigation for public and direct provocation, without action, to commit a crime or misdemeanor following these complaints.
According to information from BFMTV, Algeria indicated that the influencer was prohibited from entering the country. For his part, the Minister of the Interior specifies that no valid document has been provided to justify this inadmissibility.
In the wake of the fiasco surrounding this failed expulsion, the right and extreme right have called for a review of the migration agreements between France and Algeria. “We have been subjected to the Algerian regime for more than 50 years,” judged the RN deputy Jean-Philippe Tanguy this Friday morning on BFMTVasking to “put an end very quickly” to this text, signed between both countries in 1968. The agreement allows a special status for Algerian nationals who enjoy work or residence permits.
According a report from the general directorate for foreigners in FranceIn 2023, 646,462 residence permits were granted to Algerian nationals, far ahead of other countries.
Source: BFM TV
