Algeria warns France against 'provocative maneuvers' with Morocco near its border

Algeria issued stern warnings to the French government on Thursday over what it described as "provocative" military maneuvers it intends to carry out in conjunction with Morocco near the Algerian border.

The Algerian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was informed of a message from French Ambassador Stephane Romatet, drawing attention to the danger of the French-Moroccan military maneuvers scheduled for next September in the Errachidia region (Morocco), which is less than 100 kilometers from the Algerian border and Bechar region.

The Algerian Foreign Ministry considered that the project of these military maneuvers under the name of Sharqi 2025 "carries many connotations", and stressed that Algeria "views this exercise as a provocative act against Algeria", as it considers the implementation of military maneuvers near its borders "a hostile act directed against its national security".

A secret French official document revealed a French-Moroccan military maneuver project, which was leaked to the media, dated May 25.

The document talks about a meeting held in the Moroccan city of Salé between French and Moroccan leaders to coordinate the preparations of the French and Moroccan forces to conduct a military exercise near the Algerian border starting on September 22.

The Algerian Foreign Ministry statement pointed out that "such an action will contribute to fueling the crisis that characterizes Algerian-French relations at the present stage, and raise the level of tension between the two countries to a new level of danger."

The Foreign Ministry asked the French ambassador to convey Algeria's position to his country's authorities "in the form in which he was informed, and to obtain the necessary clarifications on this subject."

This development highlights the entry of the Algerian-French relations crisis into a dangerous square of tension, and portends difficult consequences, after it moved from the political levels and media statements to the military levels, which means in return that the security coordination and military cooperation that existed between the two countries before the first signs of the crisis at the beginning of 2023 have become completely frozen.

The French move to carry out these military maneuvers with Morocco near the Algerian border is understood as a French reaction aimed at pressuring Algeria, and these developments are relevant in the context of an ongoing severe political and diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

The crisis began in January 2023, due to the Algerian president’s refusal to visit Paris, and worsened in July 2024 after Paris announced its support for Morocco’s initiative for autonomy in the Sahara, prompting Algeria to withdraw its ambassador from Paris and reduce diplomatic representation.

Relations became more complicated after Algeria arrested the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal in mid-November, and Algeria refused to receive its citizens deported from French territory, followed by a war of statements and counter-statements between the two countries over the past two weeks.

Source: Al-Araby Al-Jadeed