A fragile improvement was anticipated, but it was not expected to be so brief. It took less than a week after a visit to Algiers by French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot, who seemed to put France and Algeria back on the path to essential dialogue, for the relationship between the two countries to plunge back into an acute and paralyzing crisis. Not since Algeria's independence in 1962 has the chasm between the two countries seemed so deep.
The facts of this sudden escalation are established. Furious about the arrest on April 12 of an agent from the Algerian consulate as part of the judicial investigation into the kidnapping of an Algerian dissident in France, Algiers ordered the expulsion of 12 French embassy officials within 48 hours. Paris responded with a reciprocal measure, expelling 12 agents from Algerian diplomatic and consular bodies in France and recalling the French ambassador to Algiers for consultation.
The leaders of the two countries no longer seem to speak the same language. Even their interpretations of bilateral agreements and international conventions differ. Algiers is claiming a violation of the Vienna Convention, which governs diplomatic immunity; Paris relies on the same convention, whose Article 31, paragraph C, states that the immunity of a diplomatic agent is lifted for acts carried out "outside of their official functions." Unless the abduction of opponents is part of the official functions of Algerian diplomatic personnel, the French justice system – which Algiers must be reminded is independent – is therefore justified in requesting the arrest of suspects in a kidnapping case, even if they are foreign consular agents.
These disputes over the interpretation of legal texts reflect the depth of the French-Algerian misunderstanding, which is approaching a breaking point. Though with Emmanuel Macron, Algiers is dealing with the French president most open to Algeria since independence.
The nature of the Algerian government likely explains why the current deadlock is concentrated on issues relating to security and freedom of expression, whether it concerns the arrest of the consular agent, the refusal to admit illegal immigrants to Algeria under French deportation orders (OQTFs) or the detention of French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal. A democratic country simply cannot accept that members of foreign security personnel hunt down critical voices of their diaspora on its territory. This applies in France to Algeria as it does to China. Similarly, Algiers' refusal to admit numerous nationals subject to French OQTFs creates an unacceptable position for France. The situation worsened following a murder in Mulhouse (eastern France), for which the primary suspect is an Algerian under an OQTF order, whom his country refused to take back 14 times.
What to do? Pitting a hard line against diplomacy, or firmness against dialogue, leans toward demagoguery. After months of estrangement, one conclusion is clear: neither the crisis nor the dialogue has yielded results. A form of dialogue remains essential, if only to resume the execution of deportation orders. But other levers can be activated, notably the Association Agreement with the European Union that Algiers wishes to renegotiate. Increasingly diplomatically isolated in its region, Algiers cannot battle on all fronts.
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.