France continues its efforts to relax its relations with Algiers, which remain a “minefield”

[Initialement publié le 13 mai 2026, cet article a été republié le 18 mai 2026.]

The signs of a resumption of dialogue between Paris and Algiers are increasing after the long months of tensions which followed France’s recognition of the “Moroccanness” of Western Sahara, in July 2024. On Monday, May 11, the French journalist Christophe Gleizes, sentenced to seven years in prison and detained for almost of a year in Algeria, received the first visit from a French diplomat since his incarceration, reports the information site Algérie360. A week later, this Monday, May 18, the Minister of Justice, Gérald Darmanin, went to Algiers and he planned to imprison Christophe Gleizes “the major subject†of his movement. Collaborator of the So Press group, the journalist was arrested as part of a report produced in May 2024 in Kabylia. In December, he was sentenced on appeal to seven years in prison for “apology of terrorism†.

The arrival of the French consul in Algiers and that, this Monday, of Gérald Darmanin, are the fruit of a “agreed†found on May 9 between the Algerian president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, and Alice Rufo, minister delegate to the French minister of the Armed Forces, during a lightning visit to Algiers.

“The question is confirmed”, concludes Algérie360, q