The official calm that has characterized Algerian-French relations in the last few months does not necessarily mean that things are going on the right path between the two countries. There is evidence that there is a “hit below the belt,” according to the sports expression, which appears through leaks and counter-leaks, confirming that the political, diplomatic, and economic crisis is continuing.
In a post on his account on the “Facebook” platform, the former Algerian ambassador, Ammar Blani, on Friday, October 23, accused France of “strongly supporting the American project aimed at reformulating the mandate of the MINURSO mission, in a way that serves the Moroccan autonomy plan,” which means that Paris is continuing with its policy that has caused the destruction of bilateral relations.
In the same context, media reports stated that Paris wants to tighten the reference to Moroccan autonomy in the American draft resolution related to the United Nations Mission to Organize the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). The same sources explained that Paris is pushing to make the autonomy plan presented by the Moroccan regime in 2007 the sole basis for the settlement in Western Sahara, and is also working on coordinating its work with its partners.
On the same day, Reuters news agency reported that Algeria had issued instructions to producers of urea (agricultural fertilizer) to stop exporting this substance to France in an escalation of the trade disputes between the two countries, which followed a change in the French position on the issue of Western Sahara in the year 2024, according to diplomats and sources in the French industry sector.
The agency said that the cessation of fertilizer exports from Algeria to France has become effective, and that Algerian fertilizer exports represent about 30 percent of France’s imports of this basic material in the agricultural sector. Other media reports also provided confirmation of this news, citing more than one diplomatic source.
These leaks came a few days after other leaks that were neither confirmed nor denied, including France’s request for additional shipments of oil and liquefied natural gas. This fact is in line with what French media reported earlier, such as “Marianne” magazine, “La Croix” newspaper, and “Le Journal du Dimanche” website, about the reluctance of Algerian importers to turn to French products. This was also quoted by a number of French diplomats and businessmen active in the field of export.
At the time, the head of the Algerian-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Michel Bezak, confirmed these leaks indirectly, when he said, commenting on a question by “Marianne” magazine, that he “prefers not to answer in order to avoid adding more fuel to the fire.”
It is known that the crisis affecting relations between Algeria and France, which caused the Algerian ambassador to be recalled from Paris in July 2024, was caused by the French side’s violation of international law, when it decided to support the autonomy plan of the Moroccan regime in Western Sahara, and even considered it the only solution to this issue, despite the warnings that Macron received from the President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, at the Galgari Summit in Italy in June 2024, which the President attended. Tebboune.
France took the same position in October of last year, when it put strong pressure on Denmark and Slovenia, which is close to Algeria in particular, in order to push them to stop hesitating in voting on the American project at that time, during the visit that led French President Emmanuel Macron to the capital, Ljubljana, on October 20 and 21, 2025.
This means that the French side is continuing its unfriendly stance towards a partner like Algeria, as President Tebboune said in a previous statement, because what Paris is doing today at the UN level is considered an extension of a path that began in July 2024, and was consecrated in 2025 through tireless French support for Security Council Resolution 2797. Paris is also continuing the same approach in anticipation of the meeting of October 31, 2026, with its impulsiveness without considering the consequences behind supporting the United States of America’s project to change the mission of The United Nations Mission to Organize the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).
