The Algerian president tries to decrease the stress, invoking his relationship together with his “alter ego”, Emmanuel Macron | EUROtoday

In the deep diplomatic disaster that Paris and Algiers are at present going by way of, the Algerian president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, selected, on Saturday March 22, to play the cardboard of appeasement.

“In order not to fall into the hubbub or the political shackles there [en France]I would only say three words: we keep President Macron as the only point of reference ”said Tebboune, in the evening, during an interview with a group of journalists from public media, broadcast by Algerian television. There was “A second of bewilderment, however he stays the French president and all the issues have to be resolved with him or with the individual he delegates, particularly the overseas ministers between them”he continued.

For Mr. Tebboune, the current litigation was “Created from scratch” but now “He is in good fingers”. He notably quoted the Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Attaf, “Who has all my confidence”. Several press releases from his ministry described Algeria as a victim of a cabal of “The revancing and hateful French proper”.

We are facing “Two impartial states, European energy and African energy, and we’ve got two presidents who work collectively, the whole lot else doesn’t concern us”added Mr. Tebboune. Emmanuel Macron is “My alter ego, we had moments of Sirocco, moments of chilly” but “It is with him that I work”.

Friendship between France and Morocco “doesn’t hassle us in any respect”

The bilateral relationship experienced a violent brake after the announcement by Mr. Macron, in July 2024, of his support supported by a plan of autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty for Western Sahara, a territory with not defined status according to the UN, claimed by the separatists of the Polisario, supported by Algiers, who reacted by withdrawing his ambassador to Paris.

Friendship between France and Morocco “Do not hassle us in any respect, opposite to what we are saying”ensures, during the interview, Mr. Tebboune. What Algiers, on the other hand, is rejected, according to him, are the recent visits to this non -autonomous territory of the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, and the President of the Senate, Gérard Larcher. “Such ostentatious visits, it is problematic and it breaks international legality while France is a member of the Security Council and the file is still in the hands of the UN. »»

In the fall, the quarrel has worsened with the arrest of the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, tried in recent days in Algiers, for remarks made on the French media Borders, Renowned by the far right, considered to be involved in the integrity of the Algerian territory.

Mr. Macron asked, at the end of February, to Mr. Tebboune de “Set” The Sansal case for “Restore confidence” Mutual, saying that he is concerned about the health of the intellectual, suffering from cancer, for which a prosecution near Algiers requested ten years in prison with a verdict scheduled for Thursday, March 27. On the road to Brussels, the French president said Thursday wish “A fast consequence” and that the writer “May discover freedom”. “I’ve confidence in President Tebboune and his clairvoyance to know that each one that [les accusations contre Sansal] will not be critical “said Macron.

“Knowing methods to maintain”

Mr. Tebboune also addressed the question of Algerians on Saturday under the obligation to leave French territory (OQTF), a file which ignited the spirits in Paris, in early January, when influencers, accused of having threatened opponents to the Algerian power exile in France, were expelled and then immediately repressed by Algeria. The crisis reached its climax after the Mulhouse attack having killed a dead, committed by an Algerian who had been the subject of several OQTF, refused by Algeria.

French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau threatened with a “Graduated response” If Algeria continues to refuse to admit its expelled nationals. In response, Mr. Tebboune cited the case of an Algerian placed under OQTF to have “Denounced the genocide in Gaza”. “These are dozens of circumstances a day, it’s freedom of expression”he pleaded.

We must, he said, “Knowing methods to maintain, we’ve got wonderful relationships, many associates [en France] who love Algeria “.