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Doha – France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot threatened Friday to activate multiple retaliatory measures against Algeria if the North African nation persists in its confrontational stance, following a diplomatic fiasco involving an expelled Algerian influencer.
“France will have no other option but to retaliate if the Algerians continue this posture of escalation,” Barrot declared on LCI television, expressing his astonishment at Algeria’s refusal to accept its own national.
The diplomatic crisis erupted when Algerian authorities unexpectedly rejected entry to “Doualemn,” a 59-year-old Algerian social media influencer who had been expelled from France.
The influencer, arrested in Montpellier for inciting violence through TikTok videos, was sent back to France the same evening after Algeria declared him “forbidden from entering the territory.”
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau accused Algeria of deliberately attempting to “humiliate France,” describing the situation as reaching “an extremely worrying threshold.”
Barrot outlined potential countermeasures, including restrictions on “visas, development aid, and other areas of cooperation.”
The foreign minister’s stern warning came amid a broader crackdown on Algerian social media influencers accused of promoting violence in France.
French authorities recently detained four individuals, including “Doualemn,” for posting inflammatory content.
Among those arrested was Sofia Benlemmane, a Franco-Algerian woman with over 300,000 followers, accused of spreading hate messages and threats against critics of Algerian authorities.
Another detained influencer, known as “Imad Tintin,” allegedly called for “burning alive, killing and raping on French soil.”
The diplomatic tensions have intensified following Algeria’s detention of French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal.
French President Emmanuel Macron criticized Algeria’s actions, stating the country “dishonors itself” by preventing a seriously ill man from receiving medical treatment.
Sansal faces charges related to his statements claiming part of western Algeria historically belonged to Morocco.
Algeria’s parliament responded by condemning Macron’s remarks as “flagrant interference” in internal affairs, rejecting “any external interference” and refusing to “receive lessons in human rights and freedoms.”
The relationship deteriorated further after Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune canceled his planned October visit to France.
Tebboune has intensified criticism of France’s colonial legacy, asserting that “90% of the Algerian people were illiterate at the time of independence” and that “colonization left Algeria in ruins.”
The diplomatic rift widened when Algeria withdrew its ambassador to Paris following Macron’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, a territory claimed by the separatist Algeria-backed Polisario Front.
The current crisis has prompted French officials, including former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, to call for the cancellation of the 1968 bilateral agreement that grants Algerians special rights for residence and employment in France.
In 2023, France issued 646,462 residence permits to Algerian nationals, significantly more than to any other nationality.
Read also: French FM Says France-Algeria Relations in Serious Decline
