France mulls freezing Algerian dignitaries’ assets

Faced with rising tensions with Algiers, Paris is considering targeted retaliatory measures.

Some twenty senior Algerian officials could have their assets frozen in France, in an unprecedented move inspired by the sanctions applied to Russian oligarchs.

France is considering freezing the assets of some 20 senior Algerian officials as part of a possible escalation of diplomatic tensions with Algiers, French government sources have indicated.

According to information gathered in Paris, the Ministries of Economy and Interior are working on a financial sanctions plan targeting dignitaries of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s regime who hold
property or interests in France.

This measure, similar to those applied to Russian oligarchs, would be activated if Algeria adopted
new hostile measures against France.

A list of twenty Algerian figures has already been drawn up, according to a source cited by a French weekly. These senior officials, from administrative, security, and political circles, are believed to be
among the 801 members of the Algerian nomenklatura with financial interests in France and who regularly reside there.

Unlike asset freezes implemented under European sanctions, this French initiative is believed to be based on national legislation authorising the blocking of funds of individuals suspected of “acts of
interference” on behalf of a foreign power.

These measures would deprive those concerned of access to their properties, assets, and
bank accounts in France for an initial period of six months, which is renewable.

This financial response comes at a time of renewed upheaval in relations between Paris and Algiers.

The latest episode occurred in mid-May, when Algeria demanded the immediate departure of fifteen French agents recently deployed to strengthen the management of visa applications.

In retaliation, France ordered the return to Algeria of all Algerian diplomatic agents without valid visas. The climate remains tense on several fronts: the detention of Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, the question of the Western Sahara – over which Moroccan sovereignty was reaffirmed by Emmanuel Macron – as well as Algeria’s refusal to readmit some of its illegal immigrants, including
the prime suspect in a deadly attack committed on February 22 in Mulhouse.

MK/ac/Sf/fss/as/APA