Just days after Paris and Algiers signaled a thaw in their strained relationship, tensions are flaring once again. On Monday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot revealed that Algerian authorities had ordered twelve French officials stationed in Algeria to leave the country — a retaliatory move following the indictment of three Algerian nationals in France.
“I call on the Algerian authorities to reconsider these expulsion measures, which bear no connection to the ongoing judicial proceedings,” Barrot stated in a written declaration sent to journalists. “If the decision to expel our agents is upheld, we will have no choice but to respond immediately,” he warned.
According to a diplomatic source cited by AFP, the targeted officials include members of the French Interior Ministry.
At the heart of the dispute is a high-profile investigation in France involving Amir Boukhors, also known as Amir DZ, a prominent Algerian dissident and influencer living in exile. On Friday, three men — including an employee of one of Algeria’s consulates in France — were formally charged in Paris with “arrest, abduction, unlawful detention or confinement followed by release before the seventh day, in connection with a terrorist enterprise,” according to the French National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office (Pnat). The men are also facing charges of criminal terrorist conspiracy and have been placed in pre-trial detention.
The Algerian Foreign Ministry reacted sharply over the weekend, condemning the judicial developments as “an inadmissible and unjustifiable escalation” that would severely harm bilateral ties with France.
This diplomatic flare-up comes at a particularly delicate moment. Just last week, Barrot had spoken of a “new chapter” in France-Algeria relations, following meetings with his Algerian counterpart Ahmed Attaf and President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. The French and Algerian presidents had recently declared an end to one of the most intense crises in their bilateral history — one that had pushed both nations to the brink of diplomatic rupture.
The latest episode, however, reveals the fragility of this reconciliation. Despite recent gestures of goodwill, the relationship remains fraught and vulnerable to sudden shocks, especially when it comes to issues of political dissidence, security, and judicial independence.
