Political players in France are looking to ease tensions and facilitate relations in the Middle East and Algeria.
President Macron has announced that France plans to recognize the Palestinian state within months, according to a report by France 24.
“We must move towards recognition, and we will do so in the coming months,” the French president said, calling it the “right” thing to do and part of his efforts towards “collective security in the region.”
Macron believes that such a move will help Israel by encouraging those who refuse to accept Israel’s right to exist and defend Palestine to come to the table. France, he hopes, will set an example by reaching across the aisle, so to speak. The Palestinian Authority has also welcomed what it called “a step in the right direction.”
“Our aim is to chair this conference with Saudi Arabia in June, where we could finalize this movement of mutual recognition (of a Palestinian state) by several parties,” Macron told French TV during his visit to Egypt.
The French government is also trying to smooth things over with Algeria. Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced on April 6, during a visit to the Algerian capital, that “a new phase” for relations between France and Algeria had commenced, reports FranceTVInfo.
“With President [Abdelmadjid] Tebboune, we expressed the shared desire to lift the curtain” and “rebuild a partnership of equals, serene and peaceful,” he said after a 2.5-hour meeting.
Tensions between the two countries have been boiling over since last summer when Macron announced France’s support for Morocco’s autonomy plan for the disputed territory of Western Sahara. The European Parliament also recently passed a resolution demanding that Algeria release imprisoned critics of the current government, including the writer Boualem Sansal, who was subsequently hit with a five-year sentence.
Despite some antagonistic statements from French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, Macron is now urging normalized relations with Algeria. This move has been applauded by former French prime minister Dominique de Villepin, who has popped back up on the political radar and is reportedly even eyeing a run for president.
Villepin says France should aim for “serenity with Algeria” by assessing “the entire relationship” and ending “the demonization,” according to Le Dauphine.
These comments came after he was asked specifically about Sansal’s imprisonment, with a fierce backlash from some.
During one exchange with journalist Benjamin Duhamel on BFMTV back in February, before Sansal’s sentencing, Duhamel asked: “So a country that arbitrarily imprisons an 80-year-old writer, with a leader who imprisons his opposition, is that not a dictatorship?” To which Villepin replied: “These judgments that please you do not help the situation. We must think of these millions of dual nationals who live in France. It’s both a domestic and foreign policy problem.”
“If I tell you today that it is a dictatorship, I am entering a scenario that leads me, politically and diplomatically, to a total impasse in our relations with Algeria,” the former PM added.
Macron’s stronger tone on some fronts, including vis-à-vis U.S. President Trump, could be due to the reemergence of Villepin. As noted by Politico, Villepin’s former party, Les Républicains, was essentially eaten by Macron’s En Marche (now Renaissance), as well as those who decided to move from the center-right to the far-right.
