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Tensions between Algeria and France are once again escalating. On Thursday, the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the chargé d’affaires of the French embassy to protest the extension of the provisional detention of an Algerian consular officer.
«The purpose of this summons was to lodge a protest in the strongest terms against the extension, yesterday, for an additional year, of the provisional detention of an Algerian consular officer», the ministry said in a statement.
«The French diplomat’s attention was firmly drawn to the fact that the Algerian consular officer has already been in provisional detention for a year, since April 2025, despite his protected status under the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations», the same source added.
Algerian authorities further warned that «this decision, which is difficult to justify or accept, will inevitably have consequences for the normal course of Algerian-French relations».
The statement did not specify the circumstances of the diplomat’s arrest. However, French judicial authorities suspect the consular officer of involvement in the kidnapping of Algerian dissident Amir DZ, who is based in France. Another diplomat allegedly involved in the operation managed to leave French territory and return to Algeria.
On Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told AFP he was satisfied with the «demanding dialogue on migration and security with Algeria», saying it was beginning to yield «initial results».
He also noted that the resumption of cooperation on migration and security was central to last month’s visit to Algiers by Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez.
