The Algerian Foreign Ministry has summoned the French charge d’affaires in Algiers and ordered the immediate expulsion of 15 French embassy employees over “serious breaches” of diplomatic protocol.
The state news agency APS, citing well-placed sources, said the ministry demanded the “immediate deportation of all French employees who were hired under conditions that violated established procedures.”
“The move comes in the wake of serious and repeated violations by the French side,” the news agency said.
It cited the appointment of diplomatic and consular staff “without prior notification or formal accreditation, in violation of international norms and bilateral agreements.”
APS said the Algerian move came amid obstacles set by Paris, including the repeated French rejection of holders of Algerian diplomatic passports into France.
Among the embassy employees ordered to be deported were two individuals working for the French Interior Ministry’s Directorate of Internal Security, citing that the pair had entered the country using “fake diplomatic passports.”
In early April, Algeria expelled 12 French embassy staff, in retaliation for the arrest of an Algerian consular employee in Paris over alleged involvement in the kidnapping of an Algerian opposition influencer.
France later responded by expelling 12 Algerian diplomats and recalling its ambassador in Algiers for consultations.
These tit-for-tat moves followed a brief thaw in relations after a phone call between Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, in late March, and a visit to Algiers by French Minister of State for Europe Jean-Noel Barrot on
April 6, during which both sides pledged to resume bilateral cooperation mechanisms.
Diplomatic relations between Algeria and France remain volatile, particularly due to unresolved issues stemming from France’s colonization of Algeria from 1830 to 1962.