Algeria’s diplomacy deteriorating amid UN and French votes

Algeria is facing increasing diplomatic isolation amid two major international setbacks, according to the Moroccan government-friendly North Africa Post and agencies on November 13th.

The first setback occurred on October 30th, when the French Assembly voted for a resolution that denounced the 1968 French-Algerian accords, which had granted Algerians hoping to settle in France preferential treatment. The motion was proposed by the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) and passed by a single vote, 185 to 184.

Algeria has come under renewed criticism from France, particularly from the far-right, with President Emmanuel Macron being pushed to impose harsher visa restrictions on Algerians travelling to France. The 1968 accords were signed four years after Algeria gained independence from France in 1962.

In 2021, France angered Algerian leader, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, when it announced that it would not apologise or repent for the atrocities committed during its colonial rule of Algeria. These comments led to Algeria recalling its ambassador and closing its airspace to the French military.

Relations between Algeria and its former colonising power have been further strained by France’s support of Morocco’s Autonomy Plan, which would grant the disputed Western Sahara territory limited self-governance under Moroccan sovereignty.

In July 2024, France announced its recognition of Moroccan sovereignty, with Macron describing Morocco’s plan as “the only way of resolving a long-running dispute over the territory.”

France is one of 130 countries to voice support for Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara.

On October 31st the UN Security Council also stated that the US-backed Moroccan plan as a resolution to the long-standing Western Sahara dispute was a credible contribution and the “most feasible solution” to the conflict. Reports indicate that the UN’s vote in favour of Morocco’s plan has exacerbated Algeria’s isolation on the world stage.

The Western Sahara had been recognised as a Non-Self-Governing Territory by the UN since 1963, but has been largely controlled by Morocco since Spanish colonial rule ended in 1975.

Both Morocco and Algeria have claimed the territory, with Algeria backing the Polisario Front militia, a separatist group that claims to fight for self-determination for the Sahrawi people, whose ancestral homeland is the disputed region. However, the group, which receives funding from Iran, has also become diplomatically isolated as 46 countries have severed or suspended ties to the militia.

Ahead of the October 31st vote, pro-Algerian media accused France and the UAE of conducting a “systematic pressure campaign” within the UN Security Council. Algeria did not participate in the vote, with the Polisario Front also refusing to participate in negotiations which would legitimise what it views as Morocco’s illegal occupation of the Western Sahara.

Morocco has also been accused by Algerian media of systemically displacing the Sahrawi people from their land in the disputed territory, namely through the destruction of homes and confiscation of land.

North Africa Post and agencies, Maghrebi.org