Algeria has suspended all parliamentary ties with France, escalating tensions between the two nations amid a dispute over migration policies and a controversial visit to the Western Sahara region. The move comes after France raised security concerns linked to migration and as Algerian authorities protest what they see as interference in regional affairs.
Algeria has suspended all ties with France’s Senate after tensions escalated over migration policies and a controversial visit to the disputed Western Sahara region. The Algerian Council of the Nation, the country’s upper house of parliament, announced the move on Wednesday, cutting off a 2015 parliamentary cooperation agreement with its French counterpart.
The decision follows a visit by French Senate Speaker Gérard Larcher to Laayoune, the main city in Western Sahara, a region at the heart of a decades-long dispute between Algeria and Morocco. Algeria, which backs the pro-independence Polisario Front, sees the visit as a direct challenge to its stance.
But the diplomatic rift runs deeper. Paris recently raised concerns about migration from North Africa, linking it to security threats in Europe. This has angered Algiers, which views such statements as an attempt to pressure the country into cooperation on migration control.
Relations between France and Algeria have long been complicated by history and geopolitics. This latest fallout adds to a series of diplomatic strains, with Algeria now signaling a tougher stance against what it sees as French interference in regional affairs.
