The relationship between Algeria and France has evolved into something far from a permanent, normal strategic partnership, lacking both tangible achievements and appeasement. French President Emmanuel Macron’s policy toward Algeria has been a failure, despite his good intentions to address France's moral burden stemming from 132 years of harsh occupation and acculturation. This failure is largely due to the influence of a nostalgia-driven lobby that believes French colonialist supremacy can be maintained, as well as French domestic politics and broader Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) geopolitics.
There is an anti-Algeria lobby, particularly in far-right media and public outlets, that shapes relations with Algeria. On Jan. 22, France 2, a national public network, aired a program titled "The Secret War between France and Algeria." This propagandist documentary fits into the ongoing hysterical campaign against Algeria, adding another layer to the worst diplomatic crisis between Paris and Algiers since Algeria regained its national sovereignty in 1962.
Although the documentary aired during a period of diplomatic tensions, exacerbated by Paris’ recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara in July 2024, France had historically maintained a balanced stance on this contentious issue. Algiers supports the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination and a political resolution of the conflict in line with United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.
Rather than de-escalating tensions, Paris, through this so-called “investigative journalistic” program, chose to provoke further confrontation with Algerian authorities. While Algiers has dealt with this media frenzy with calm diplomacy, it is clear that the country's pivotal geopolitical and economic role has stirred resentment, particularly in far-right and public media circles. Algeria’s economic development, political reforms and diplomatic positions on causes such as Palestine and Western Sahara's legitimacy rights have fueled this animosity.
Amid these developments, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune made a surprising move concerning Algerian migrants and illegal residency in France. Far-right groups in France have accused Algiers of obstructing efforts to address the issue of illegal immigration, particularly regarding the refusal to grant residence permits to illegal migrants. This measure, known in France as OQTF ("Obligation de Quitter le Territoire Français"), has been used as a political tool to pressure Algeria.
In response, Tebboune put an end to this political leverage, which included measures such as limiting visas, suspending financial aid, freezing private money transfers and denouncing the 1968 agreements. These measures, once seen as tools for French political blackmail, have now been largely nullified by Algeria.
On another front, the French media today, led by Algeria-bashing Parisian inner circles, are using the story of the French sports journalist Christophe Gleizes to attack Algeria. Gleizes has been sentenced in Algeria since May 2024, on charges related to alleged contact with the Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylie (MAK), an ethnic separatist movement and a terrorist organization that spread hate speech and national integrity cohesion. However, French politician Segolene Royal's recent visit to Gleizes in prison in Algeria, where he is serving a seven-year sentence, is raising hopes for a possible pardon from the Algerian president.
During her visit, Royal, who is the president of the France-Algeria Friendship Association, met with Tebboune and other high-ranking officials, as well as civil society actors. Her symbolic visit to Algiers and call for constructive dialogue between the two countries, based on trust and respect for Algeria’s sovereignty, aimed to create a new phase of detente between the two capitals. In turn, Royal has been subjected to senseless attacks led by far-right media, politicians and pundits.
In the past, far-right media and politicians in France have resorted to spreading fake statistics about illegal migration to damage Algeria's image in France and Europe. These toxic narratives on migration, political Islam and integration continue to affect relations between the two countries.
However, despite deteriorating relations with France, Algeria is making significant strides on the global stage, setting a world record in iron production. To optimize the extraction of over 3.5 billion tons of iron ore, Algeria has launched a development project for supporting infrastructure, with a key focus on transporting iron ore from the remote Gara-Djebilet region in Tindouf, the southwestern province, to processing sites in Bechar and Oran provinces.
The first shipment of iron ore from the Gara-Djebilet mine was transported to Bechar for initial processing before onward delivery to the Turkish company Tosyalı complex in Bethioua, Oran province. Additionally, a massive 950-kilometer (590-mile) railway line project has been launched, connecting Gara-Djebilet to Bechar.
This project, expected to be completed by September 2026, is poised to promote regional development, create jobs and improve services, creating a more balanced policy between Algeria’s north and south and ending regional isolation.
While Algeria has made notable progress on the global stage, especially in its economic and infrastructure development, France remains unable to move beyond its colonial mindset. The far-right and the colonial nostalgia lobby in France must abandon their outdated perception of Algeria as merely an extension of its former colonial territories. However, unfortunately, relations between Algiers and Paris are unlikely to improve in the near future, particularly with the French presidential election on the horizon.
