Algeria faces double defeat following French assembly and UNSC votes

Algeria suffered two diplomatic setbacks in the final days of October, with the French National Assembly recommending the repeal of a decades-old migration accord and the United Nations Security Council endorsing Morocco’s autonomy plan for the Sahara territory.

On Oct. 30, lawmakers in France voted in favor of a resolution introduced by the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) urging the government to denounce the 1968 Franco-Algerian agreement that grants Algerian nationals preferential migration status. The resolution calls on the government to review the accord but does not carry the force of law.

Analysts said the vote marked a symbolic victory for RN leader Marine Le Pen and highlighted growing political consensus in France on immigration issues linked to Algeria.

“It is the first time the RN has succeeded in passing a text with majority support, and it signals a shift in attitudes toward Algeria,” political commentator and former ambassador Xavier Driencourt wrote in an analysis published by Le360.

The following day, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution backing Morocco’s autonomy proposal for Western Sahara as the central reference point in negotiations.

The text passed with 11 votes in favor and three abstentions, despite Algeria’s opposition.

The resolution reflects a trend of international support for Morocco’s position, reinforced in recent years by the Abraham Accords and endorsements from key European states including France, Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom.

The developments come amid heightened tensions between Algiers and Paris, already strained by the detention of Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal and French journalist Christophe Gleizes in Algeria. Rights groups have criticized the arrests as politically motivated.

Driencoirt described the week as “a double defeat for Algeria,” noting that the UN vote coincided with Algeria’s national holiday on Nov. 1.

“The diplomatic landscape has shifted significantly, and Algeria faces growing isolation on the Western Sahara issue,” he said.