Visa Course Towards Algeria Sparks Dispute Among RN and Republicans

Algiers – 17/07/2026: Comments by French Ambassador Stephane Romatet on expanding visa issuance for Algerian citizens have sparked sharp criticism from the right in France. In an interview published on 15 July, Romatet said that Paris wanted to make consular procedures more effective again after the long diplomatic crisis and gradually increase the number of visas issued.

This is not the announcement of an immediate political decision or a fixed quota. Rather, the ambassador described an objective: before the crisis, France had issued approximately 250,000 visas a year to Algerian citizens. Due to staff shortages and reduced consular capacity, this level had fallen significantly. Appointment availability and processing capacity were now to be expanded again.

Romatet justified this approach by citing the close human and economic ties between the two countries. Businesspeople, family members and other travellers were directly affected by visa bottlenecks. At the same time, he acknowledged that French citizens had also increasingly faced difficulties entering Algeria recently. Restoring functional consular services was therefore part of the broader effort to stabilize bilateral relations.

The leader of The Republicans, Bruno Retailleau, by contrast, viewed the remarks as a sign of an overly accommodating Algeria policy. He particularly criticized Romatet for not placing greater emphasis on the return of Algerian citizens without legal residence status in France, what he described as the unbalanced relationship between the two states, and the detention of French journalist Christophe Gleizes.

LR Member of the European Parliament Francois-Xavier Bellamy also opposed normalizing visa policy without progress on the readmission of Algerians required to leave the country. Jordan Bardella, leader of the Rassemblement National, categorically rejected a return to around 250,000 visas per year. He pointed to continuing tensions with Algiers as well as Gleizes’ detention.

The controversy highlights the domestic political conflict over the role of visas in policy towards Algeria. For Romatet, they are primarily a tool for restoring social and economic ties. Right-wing parties, by contrast, demand that visas be tied more closely to Algeria’s cooperation on migration and returns. These opposing approaches complicate the cautious diplomatic rapprochement that Paris and Algiers have pursued since the ambassador’s return to Algiers in May.

Alongside consular matters, both sides are seeking renewed contacts on security, justice and economic issues. Romatet referred to meetings between French and Algerian representatives as well as the resumption of individual cooperation formats. The visa issue remains especially symbolic: it directly affects France’s large population of Algerian descent and links foreign-policy negotiations with the French migration debate.