The last two years of France-Algeria relations have been characterised by recurring diplomatic tensions and reciprocal retaliations between the two. While both sides have made efforts to improve relations in recent weeks, underlying distrust and disagreements will continue to pose challenges for French and Algerian travellers and businesses in each country.
In February 2026, a visit to Algiers by France’s new interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, marked a cautious easing in long-strained relations between Algeria and France. Prior to the meeting, however, the two countries’ already-turbulent relationship was characterised by steady decline, triggered by France’s recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara in July 2024 – a notable divergence from Algeria's policy of support for the Sahrawi independence movement. Immigration, too, has been an increasingly sore point, with Algeria and France caught in a cycle of reprisals and counter-reprisals over the former’s reluctance to repatriate undocumented nationals from France since at least August 2024. In December 2025, tensions escalated further when Algeria passed a law criminalising French colonialism, demanding an apology and reparations, which France viewed as a hostile act.
Whether on legitimate grounds or not, the visibility of these detentions raised accusations of retaliatory tactics and served to erode trust further.''
Over the past 18 months, bilateral tensions moved beyond the diplomatic sphere to impact businesses and travellers, through regulatory scrutiny, blocks on investment, and sporadic detentions. As well as reciprocal expulsions of one another’s diplomats, both countries tightened travel requirements; in August 2025, for instance, France suspended visa exemptions for Algerian diplomats, and Algeria followed suit a month later. France further threatened to review the 1968 agreement that simplifies the residency and employment process for Algerians moving to France. Additionally, the two countries retaliated against one another’s commercial interests, with France reportedly dissuading a French maritime company from investing in Algerian ports in April 2025, and Algeria excluding France from a wheat import tender that same month.
Among these tit-for-tat moves, both France and Algeria have, on several occasions in recent years, arrested citizens from the other’s country. Whether on legitimate grounds or not, the visibility of these detentions raised accusations of retaliatory tactics and served to erode trust further.
In July 2025, an Algerian court sentenced French sports journalist Christophe Gleizes to seven years in prison on charges of supporting terrorism. Gleizes was arrested in May 2024, days after his arrival in Tizi Ouzou to cover a story relating to a local sports club, with authorities accusing him of communicating with a leader of the Kabylia independence movement.
While reciprocal detentions have intensified bilateral strain, recent developments suggest both governments have made efforts to revive dialogue and stabilise relations. During recent talks, France and Algeria committed to restoring high-level security cooperation, and Algeria has watered down it’s legislation on colonialism. Additionally, reopening diplomatic channels will bode well for negotiations regarding high-profile detainees in the coming months, particularly for the release of French journalist Christophe Gleizes. However, deep-seated mistrust – dating back as far as France’s colonial control of Algeria (ending in 1962) – remains embedded between the two, leaving the door open for future bilateral disagreements. The potential for tensions to re-emerge will pose periodic challenges for French and Algerian business continuity and travel stability over the longer term, with both sides ready to impose traveller detentions, trade and investment barriers, and regulatory hurdles to impress leverage.