Algeria withdraws VIP airport, port access cards from French Embassy

ALGIERS, Algeria/ISTANBUL 

Algeria withdrew all privileged access cards granted to the French Embassy to Algerian ports and airports on Saturday, in a reciprocal move to what Algiers says are restrictions on its diplomats in France.

In a statement, the Algerian Foreign Ministry said it had “reclaimed all privileged access cards to the country's ports and airports that had been granted to the French Embassy in Algiers.”

The move came after the ministry summoned the French chargé d’affaires for the second time on Saturday, citing what it viewed as a “blatant violation of international obligations” by the French government regarding the obstruction of the delivery and reception of diplomatic pouches.

The ministry said the French obstructions, which initially affected only the Algerian Embassy in Paris, have now extended to include Algeria’s consular centers in France, despite previous assurances from the French Foreign Ministry that it would review these measures.

The dispute marks a new escalation in what has become the most serious diplomatic rift between the two countries since Algeria’s independence from France in 1962.

Both nations downgraded diplomatic representation to the level of chargé d’affaires in July 2024 after Paris formally endorsed Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara, a position Algeria strongly opposes.