In statements to the BFM TV channel, the head of diplomacy specified that these are restrictions on movement and access to French territory for “certain Algerian dignitaries,” without offering further details.

According to Barrot, the sanctions are reversible, if the North African country complies with the level of cooperation requested by Paris.

If Algeria does not react, we are ready to adopt new measures, he warned.

Relations between the two countries are going through a tense moment, marked by the arrest in Algiers of the writer Boualem Sansal for attacking state security and in France of several influencers who are accused of calling for violence on French soil.

The crisis escalated further over the weekend after the deadly knife attack in the eastern city of Mulhouse, committed by an Algerian listed for Islamist radicalization and ordered to leave French territory due to his irregular immigration status.

According to various authorities, Algeria refused to receive the alleged perpetrator of the action that left one dead and five injured.

In this regard, Foreign Minister Barrot called this position unacceptable.

Attempts to move towards a reconciliation that will alleviate the wounds of colonization and a war of independence with bloody episodes face a serious challenge, despite a robust economic exchange, characterized by French imports of hydrocarbons, particularly natural gas.

In August 2022, Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Abdelmadjid Tebboune agreed in the Algerian capital on a roadmap to relaunch bilateral ties contaminated by the past. However, things have not gone in that direction since then, with Tebboune postponing his visit to Paris, with fundamental differences such as French recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, whose independence is supported by Algeria.

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