Trending 
France has announced it will expel Algerian diplomats in response to Algeria’s decision to send more French officials home, marking an escalation in tensions between the two countries. The French Foreign Minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, confirmed the move on Wednesday, describing it as a “perfectly proportionate” action to Algeria’s recent decision, which he labelled as “unjustified and unjustifiable.”
The latest diplomatic standoff comes as relations between France and Algeria, former colonial rulers, have been strained by a series of disputes in recent months. Barrot revealed he would summon Algeria’s charge d’affaires to formally notify him of the expulsion order.
This follows an announcement made earlier this week, when Barrot declared that France would respond “immediately and firmly” to Algeria’s decision to expel French officials. The French officials involved are on temporary assignments, according to a French diplomatic source, though the specific number of diplomats affected and the date when the expulsions will take effect have not been disclosed.
In April, France had already expelled 12 Algerian diplomats and consular officials, recalling its ambassador after Algeria expelled 12 French officials in retaliation for the arrest of an Algerian official in France.
Tensions between the two nations have been further exacerbated by a number of issues, including France’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara, a region that Algeria supports the pro-independence Polisario Front over. Relations worsened further in November when Algeria arrested and imprisoned French-Algerian author Boualem Sansal on national security charges.
The deteriorating diplomatic ties are also influenced by the legacy of the bloody 1954-1962 war that ultimately led to Algeria’s independence from France.
