France in face of Algeria’s Frankenstein Syndrome
Relations between France and Algeria have deteriorated to their worst level in decades in a showdown in which French President Emmanuel Macron assumes some responsibility in having sought to reconcile with an Algerian military-led regime that subsists on hostility to anything French.
In offering too many concessions to the military regime in Algiers and turning a blind eye to the oppression against peaceful activists within Algeria, Macron has indirectly helped empower an Algerian monster that is now attacking France, using the diaspora as a weapon, a stark Frankenstein syndrome example in contemporary affairs.
Macron believed that he could deal with the Algerian regime as a rational state. Instead, he indirectly offered some legitimacy to an opaque regime, run by a puppet president, whom he once described as a hostage of the military regime that survives on “memorial rent.”
With hindsight, Macron realizes that his bet on Algeria during his first term was an utter failure with a counterproductive effect.
Disrespect
In recent days, the Algerian regime has multiplied acts of disrespect towards France and its sovereign decisions.
Since Macron recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara, Algeria recalled its ambassador to Paris and instructed its media and influencers to attack France.
The arrest of French-Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal was a turning point. Sansal was a critic of the Algerian regime and was arrested because of his views. He is now held in a hospital.
Macron and a growing list of politicians and intellectuals have called for his immediate release.
Yet, Boualem Sansal is but the very apparent tip of a giant iceberg of detained activists facing all sorts of sham charges by a regime that fabricates terrorism charges to crack down on peaceful dissidents.
Over the past years, Macron had turned a deaf ear to the voices that warned him of the authoritarian nature of the Algerian regime which has no interest in normal ties with France.
Regime vs State
Now with relations reaching a dead-end, Macron realizes that he is in front of a military regime led by torturers of Algeria’s black decade.
The interest of the regime in survival makes it act as a gang instead of a state. This is clear in the most recent blunder by Algerian authorities in rejecting the entrance of a national expelled by France for hate speech.
The incident led some to say that the Algerian passport does not even grant its holders access to Algeria. The case of Jeune Afrique journalist Farid Alilat is a stark example of a state run by the whims of men in uniform.
The refusal by Algeria to admit its nationals who have been spreading hate speech and threatening peaceful Algerian opposition figures infuriated the French political class.
“Algeria seeks to humiliate France,” said French interior minister Bruno Retailleau in the wake of an Algerian foreign ministry statement that gave absurd reasons for not admitting one of its unwanted nationals in France.
Relations crossed the redline, he said, warning that France will take all necessary measures to respond to what many French politicians describe as a lack of respect.
1968 Deals
France could respond by reviewing the 1968 deals which give Algerians a preferential treatment in settling in France compared to other non-EU nations.
France could also disclose the scale of corruption by Algerian officials who have been transferring their wealth to France.
Besides, France could ban the Algerian flag carrier which has often refused to transport unwanted Algerian nationals and drastically limit visas offered to Algerians.
