Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 14, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
France has expelled Algerian diplomats in response to Algeria's expulsion of French officials, further straining ties over the Western Sahara dispute.
PARIS (Reuters) - France's foreign ministry summoned a senior Algerian diplomat on Wednesday to inform him that Paris was expelling Algerians holding diplomatic passports without visas in a response to a decision by Algiers to expel 15 French officials.
"France reserves the right to take additional measures depending on how the situation evolves," the ministry said in a statement after summoning Algeria's charge d'affaires.
It did not say how many people were expelled.
France's ties with its former colony have long been complicated, but took a turn for the worse last year when President Emmanuel Macron angered Algeria by backing Morocco's position over the disputed Western Sahara region.
There had been a short-lived thaw in tensions last month after Barrot visited Algiers, but a week later tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions once again strained ties.
Algeria's press agency APS reported on Monday that France's charge d'affaires had been informed that 15 French diplomatic agents were in irregular positions and would be expelled.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told BFM television on Wednesday that ties were now "totally blocked."
(Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
The article discusses the diplomatic tensions between France and Algeria, focusing on recent expulsions of diplomats.
The conflict is partly due to France's support for Morocco over the disputed Western Sahara region, angering Algeria.
Algeria expelled 15 French diplomatic agents, claiming they were in irregular positions.
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