No clearing up on the horizon on this diplomatic front.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune warned on Saturday that he will not take "the first step" to try to ease tensions caused by Emmanuel Macron's critical remarks on the Algerian "nation".
“I have no regrets.
Macron has reopened an old conflict in a completely useless way, ”denounces the Algerian leader in an interview with the German weekly Der Spiegel.
“If (far-right polemicist Eric) Zemmour says something like that, whatever, nobody's paying attention.
But when a head of state declares that Algeria was not a separate nation, it is very serious, ”he criticizes.
Under these conditions, “I will not be the one who will take the first step, warns the Algerian head of state.
Otherwise I will lose all the Algerians, it is not about me, but about a national problem ”.
"No Algerian would accept that I contact those who insulted us", explains Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
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Emmanuel Macron sparked the wrath of Algiers after comments reported on October 2 by the daily Le Monde accusing the Algerian “politico-military” system of maintaining a “memorial rent” by serving his people an “official history” which “ is not based on truths ”.
According to Le Monde, the French president also affirmed that “the construction of Algeria as a nation is a phenomenon to watch.
Was there an Algerian nation before French colonization?
That is the question (...) ”.
"We do not touch the history of a people, and we do not insult the Algerians", deplores the Algerian president.
“Why did (Mr. Macron) say that?
I think it was for strategic electoral reasons, ”said Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
"It's the same speech that the far-right journalist Eric Zemmour has been using for a long time: Algeria was not a nation, it was France which made it a nation," he argues.
"Macron sided with those who justify colonization"
According to Abdelmadjid Tebboune, "with this declaration, Macron sided with those who justify colonization".
Is there a prospect of an outcome with France?
asks the Spiegel.
"No, if the French want to go to Mali or Niger now, they will just have to fly nine hours instead of four", retorts the Algerian president, assuring however that an "exception" would be made for "the rescue of people injured ”.
“But for everything else, we are no longer obliged to cooperate with each other, it may be over now,” he warns, accusing Emmanuel Macron of having “undermined the dignity of Algerians”.
Read alsoBetween France and Algeria, nothing is going well: how far can this rise in tensions go?
Abdelmadjid Tebboune says he is ready to come to the aid of Mali if the country, plagued by the spread of jihadist groups, "asks for help".
“The UN can look to us or even to the African Union.
If the Malians are faced with an attack tomorrow, we will intervene at their request, ”he assures us.
“But our soldiers are Algerians who have families, I will not send them to die for the interests of others.
Enough Algerians have died in the past ”, tempers Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
Praises for Angela Merkel
Angry with Emmanuel Macron, the Algerian president is laurels for Angela Merkel's Germany.
"The Germans have always treated us with respect, they have never treated us with arrogance, there have never been any disagreements in matters of foreign policy", he greets, saying "admire" the "perseverance and the modesty of Angela Merkel ”.
"I'm really sorry to see her go" in the coming weeks, after 16 years in power, concludes Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who had undergone medical treatment for several months in Germany in 2020 and early 2021.