France-Algeria: Morocco, trigger of a major diplomatic crisis

France and Algeria are going through a zone of turbulence. Paris denounces a “posture of hostility” on the part of Algiers, and Emmanuel Macron will soon bring together the ministers concerned “to assess the follow-up to be given and the measures to be taken”.

This cooling of relations follows France’s recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, a decision which aroused the anger of Algiers, historic support of the Polisario Front separatists. The imprisonment of the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal in Algeria and the arrest in France of several Algerian or binational influencers for “making hateful or violent public comments” have aggravated the situation.