Algiers closes airspace to French military aircrafts after Macron criticized Algerian junta

French President Emmanuel Macron delivered straightforward remarks ending decades of complacency towards Algeria’s military regime. Macron described the military rulers of Algiers as “exhausted” and surviving on “memorial rent” based on hatred of French.

Algeria responded by recalling its ambassador and on Oct.3, AFP and French media reported, citing military sources, that Algiers closed its airspace to French military aircrafts.

Macron’s remarks were welcomed by Algerian opposition figures in exile who have long complained of France’s complacency with a brutal military junta that hijacked power in Algeria since the country’s independence.

Speaking to young descendants of Algerians and French people who served France during its colonial rule of Algeria, Macron called for re-writing the shared history with Algeria in order to pave the way for a better future between the two countries and peoples.

He offered remarks about the absence of an Algerian nation prior to 1962, recalling that when France invaded Algeria, the country was already under Ottoman occupation, adding that Turkey managed to make Algerians forget its colonial past in the North African country.

But what irked the Algerian military junta is the French President’s rebuke of the military rulers of the country straightforwardly alluding that Tebboune is but a puppet whose strings are pulled by Chengriha.

Macron added that his country’s decision to cut the number of Visas granted to Algerians would not affect students or the business community. He said the decision is directed at Algerian officials!

Macron’s remarks indicate that France, which has for long turned a blind eye to the repression and power grab by the army, is no longer willing to protect a decaying and inefficient regime that sows instability domestically and in the region.

Spain is also angry at the surge in arrivals of Algerian youth on board risky embarkations. Spanish Guardia Civile are exhausted from rescue operations as the number of arrivals exceeded 12,000 Algerians so far this year fleeing poverty, repression and misery in the once oil and gas rich country.

Macron’s scathing remarks are but the tip of the iceberg of what Algeria should expect in terms of international isolation as it continues to seal itself off both within its region and internationally.

“We see that the Algerian regime is exhausted. The Hirak has weakened it. I have had good talks with President Tebboune, but I see that he is caught within a very harsh regime,” the French President said.