Between the RN and Algeria, the risk of a showdown

A priori, the framework for a showdown is being set up. Between Algeria and the National Rally (RN), on the threshold of power, it is like a poorly healed wound that is rekindled, a return of poisonous memory. How can we imagine that the bilateral relationship will emerge unscathed from a possible arrival in power of the RN? That it will be spared from the aims of a party whose founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen, was a “para” during the Algiers War (1957), implicated moreover for having been associated with torture and who recycled within it many former executives of the OAS (Organisation of the Secret Army)? Such “French Algeria” DNA, which today means that the movement is over-represented in the localities of southern France with a high concentration of pieds-noirs, will inevitably weigh on the link between Paris and Algiers in the event of a Bardella government.

“ An RN power will poison the relationship with Algeria, anticipates Madjid Benchikh, former dean of the Algiers law faculty. The deterioration will be lasting, because the rise of the extreme right in Europe is a groundswell. » For the moment, the official Algerian press is observing a certain caution in its coverage of the French electoral sequence. Although it is too early to be publicly alarmed, there is growing concern, as illustrated by the positions of Chems-Eddine Hafiz, the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris near Algiers, calling for “to be indignant” in front of “the RN temptation”.

The migration issue would immediately become a priority for an RN government in Algeria. The leaders of the far-right party make no secret of this. “I think it’s better to tackle these irritants up front.”, had recommended Marie Le Pen in April 2022 during her campaign for the presidential election. The main of these “irritants” is the bad will attributed to Algeria in the readmission of its nationals subject to an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF). The RN promises a standoff on this issue by making the granting of visas for France conditional on full cooperation from Algiers in the issuance of consular documents allowing these returns.

Special regime in question

To this end, M’s party^me Le Pen plans to shoot down a map to better force Algiers’ reluctance: the questioning of the Franco-Algerian Agreement of 1968, which grants Algerians a regime derogating from the common law of foreigners in terms of movement, residence and employment on French soil. The paternity of this idea goes to the diplomat Xavier Driencourt, who returned from his two terms as ambassador to Algiers (2008-2012, 2017-2022) with the conviction that Paris had been too ” naive “ in his relationship with Algerian leaders who, according to him, “only understand the balance of power”.

Since his retirement in 2022, Mr. Driencourt has met Mr.^me Le Pen once and Jordan Bardella twice, and although he firmly denies being their ” advise ” on Algeria, his name is circulating as a possible future minister of foreign affairs of an RN government. “I haven’t been offered anything yet,” objects Mr. Driencourt. “ And if that were to be the case, there is a 99% chance that I would refuse because I am not a politician. », he specifies while leaving doubt about the remaining 1%.

Anyway, his idea of “denounce” the 1968 migration agreement has infused. It was taken up by Edouard Philippe – in disagreement on this point with President Macron, supporter of the status quo – and of course by an RN delighted to discover the existence of this asset hitherto forgotten in the archives. “ We will review the 1968 agreement », declared Thursday June 27 to BFM-TV Sébastien Chenu, vice-president of the far-right party. On June 10, he announced his “repeal” pure and simple, a nuance of language which suggests that the RN project is not yet very clear on the extent of the challenge.

Refusal of “repentance”

The second issue that promises to strain bilateral relations in the scenario of a Bardella government is that of memory. In the name of its refusal of the ” repentance “, the RN has continued to reject any effort at memorial appeasement with Algeria, outlined by the left, then amplified by Emmanuel Macron. In 2012, M^me Le Pen had thus castigated it as a gesture “profoundly destructive, deeply divisive of French society”, François Hollande’s decision after his election to the presidency of ” recognize “ with “lucidity” there “bloody repression” of the pro-FLN demonstration of October 17, 1961 in Paris which cost the lives of several dozen Algerians, some of whom were drowned in the Seine.

Statements of this type are numerous from the far-right party. When historian Benjamin Stora submitted his report to Mr. Macron on January 20, 2021 on the memorial reconciliation between France and Algeria, Louis Alliot, RN mayor of Perpignan, exclaimed: ” Shameful! Has Macron decided, through the Trotskyist Stora, to declare a memorial war on French families who have been sorely tried by the atrocities of the FLN and their suitcase carriers? »

“It is indisputable that there is [eu] positive aspects in colonization »reacted for his part the European deputy Nicolas Bay, then in the RN (he joined since Reconquest!), specifying that in his eyes the Stora report “will appear as a umpteenth demonstration of weakness » and will be received ” five on five ” by those “who express hatred of our country.” More recently, during a debate in the National Assembly on March 28 on the repression of the demonstration of October 17, 1961, Franck Giletti, RN deputy of Var, strongly attacked Mr. Macron who, according to him, “has not stopped kneel before the Algerian government » and that “sets to mortify his country through continuous repentance that has become unbearable.”

In these conditions, it is difficult to see what could remain of the attempt at memorial reconciliation by the French head of state, unless the latter decides to make it a combat issue in a conflictual cohabitation. Since the implementation of the recommendations of the Stora report inherently involves the cooperation of various administrations (ministries of culture, education, defense, etc.), a government by the RN would in any case inevitably block any initiative. The future of the Franco-Algerian commission of historians, which is working in particular on the digital sharing of archives and the restitution to Algeria of property having belonged to Emir Abdelkader (1808-1883), would therefore be openly threatened .

Inevitable clash over Morocco

Finally, a third predictable bone of contention with Algiers: Morocco, a country whose M^me Le Pen had declared in 2022 that he was ” Dear “ to France, Algeria not being entitled to such a qualifier from it. If a Prime Minister Jordan Bardella were to recognize the “Moroccanness” Western Sahara, a position expressed for years by Thierry Mariani, MEP invested by the RN, as well as, more recently, Eric Ciotti, new partner of the far-right party, the confrontation with Algeria would be inevitable.

This potential triple fault – migratory, memorial and diplomatic – would plunge the relationship between Paris and Algiers into the throes of a new crisis. But would it be sustainable? On both sides, pragmatism, dictated by very intertwined human, economic and geopolitical interests, could just as easily end up imposing itself on ideological positions. For its part, Algeria has shown that it could very well accommodate a partner beyond the Mediterranean from the populist and xenophobic far right, as illustrated by the excellence of its relationship with the Italy by Georgia Meloni.

The history of the bilateral relationship also shows that Algiers has often preferred to work with an uninhibited right – such as Charles Pasqua when he was Minister of the Interior (1986-1988, 1993-1995) – rather than with wavering socialists. between human rights and realpolitik. “ Paradoxically, a far-right power in Paris would perhaps be easier to manage from the point of view of Algiers, because things would be clearer and more frank.”, slips a French diplomatic source. This is in any case the bet of Marine Le Pen who declared during the 2022 presidential campaign: “ Once elected, I will adopt an uninhibited, clear and readable discourse for Algeria. I think that our two countries have everything to gain from it. “.