Algeria lays down its “conditions” for the arrival of Emmanuel Macron

While French President Emmanuel Macron responded favorably to the invitation of his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune for a state visit to Algeria, this trip seems “compromised” according to Algerian media.

The Algerian authorities would like France to downgrade Algeria from Zone A by order of the Quai d’Orsay, as a condition for welcoming the French head of state. The countries on this list – intended for ambassadors and consular posts – are considered to have “particularly rigorous” living conditions.

The site of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicates in article 1 of its decree that the appointments abroad of agents intended to serve in diplomatic and consular posts are pronounced taking into account the applicable rules of 3 different zones.

Zone A includes positions in countries where living conditions are particularly harsh, Zone B includes countries where living conditions are deemed difficult, in particular due to the climate or daily constraints, and Zone C concerns other countries.

According to the Algérie Patriotique site close to the Algerian regime, Emmanuel Macron would not be welcomed in Algeria until this modification is made. “If we are to believe the reaction of official Algerian sources who requested anonymity, it is difficult to envisage maintaining the French president’s visit to Algeria”warns the newspaper.

In Algiers, in any case, continues the same source, ” this classification is qualified as + scandalous + because + not in conformity with reality +”.

« Between the honeyed speech of François Gouyette, the French ambassador in Algiers, delivered on the occasion of the French national holiday, this July 14, and the classification of countries by the Quai d’Orsay according to the situation prevailing there , there is a gap that the probable adjustments of Emmanuel Macron and Catherine Colonna will have difficulty in bridging”adds the media, seeking to modify the list of the Quai D’Orsay.

He considers that the classification of Algeria in category A of the decree of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs dated July 7, 2022 is ” foolish “ et ” absurd “and cites anonymous Algerian diplomatic sources, claiming to be “shocked” and denouncing a ” twisted calibration”.

He thus compares the position of Tunisia and Morocco with that of Algeria, the only country classified in list A, “considered dangerous for the French representatives”, depending on the media.

“In this ranking, Algeria rubs shoulders with countries at war, such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and Ukraine, and “others where the economic and social situation is particularly delicate, particularly in Africa and Latin America”, is surprised Patriotic Algeria.

And this time to attack list B where Tunisia is located: “South Africa, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon – a bankrupt country where instability augurs a return to armed inter-confessional clashes between the different factions – Russia, Tunisia – whose battered economy makes that this country owes its survival only to the aid provided by neighboring Algeria – and Turkey”.

As for Morocco, “it is classified in the prosperous countries where France considers that the situation does not require any particular provision” and he “is aligned with the German giant, Australia, the Scandinavian countries, the tax havens of Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, the extremely wealthy Principality of Monaco and the petro-monarchies of the Gulf”, indicates the same source.

According to the media close to the government, France would have had this position vis-à-vis Algeria because it would see “with a dim view of the strategic partnership that Algiers and Rome have sealed and which has been crowned by a substantial increase in the quantities of Algerian gas intended for the Italians”.

But in reality, there is nothing new in this case since Algeria was already classified in Zone A for a long time. In the same decree of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of 2021, Algeria was found in this same category.

While relations between France and Algeria are barely warming up, thanks to a good personal relationship between Emmanuel Macron and Abdelmadjid Tebboune, it seems that there are still other obstacles before a return to “normal”. between Algiers and Paris, whose downgrading would be one of the demands of the Algerian regime.