French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot announced a strong and immediate response to the Algerian government’s decision to continue expelling French officials from its territory. On Monday, May 12, the minister told reporters, “This is an incomprehensible and brutal decision.”
The Foreign Minister, speaking in Normandy said, “We will respond immediately, firmly, and in a manner proportionate to the harm it is doing to our interests,” he added “It is a decision that I deplore because it is neither in the interests of Algeria nor in the interests of France.”
Last month in April, France arrested an Algerian officer in the country, to which the North-African nation’s response was to expel 12 French officers from its territory. Paris ultimately responded by sending home 12 of the Algerians as well.
The history of their bilateral relationship has been deteriorating continuously. The memory of the 1954-1962 war that led to the independence of Algeria still lives on strongly. More recently, Algeria arrested a French-Algerian writer, Boualem Sansal, in November, which created tensions, while also France recognizing Moroccan authority over the disputed Western Sahara region sparked debate as Algeria backs the pro-independence Polisario Front.
