France has officially suspended a bilateral agreement with Algeria that granted visa exemptions to holders of diplomatic and service passports.
Signed in Algiers on December 16, 2013, and promulgated by Decree No. 2014-1003 of September 4, 2014, this agreement facilitated visa exemptions for short-term stays for Algerian and French civil servants.
Algeria ceased to apply its provisions on May 11, 2025.
In accordance with the principle of reciprocity, France suspended the agreement on May 16, with the suspension officially taking effect on August 7, 2025, as stipulated in Article 8 of the agreement. On the same day, Algeria announced the termination of the agreement, presenting this decision as a response to the French suspension. In a statement, the Algerian Foreign Ministry accused Paris of “distorting reality” and attempting to shirk responsibility for the deterioration of bilateral relations.
The ministry criticized a letter from French President Emmanuel Macron requesting the temporary suspension, stating that “it is France, and France alone, that initiated such a request. By deciding to suspend this agreement, France is offering Algeria the ideal opportunity to announce, in turn, the outright termination of this same agreement.”
In response to a series of measures imposed by Algerian authorities on French diplomats, including expulsions and travel restrictions, Macron’s letter calls for the formal suspension of the 2013 visa waiver agreement.
The visa waiver pact had facilitated high-level mobility between the two countries, particularly for Algerian officials traveling to France.
However, instead of preserving this framework, Algiers chose to withdraw completely following France’s decision.
Relations between the two countries have become increasingly strained in recent months, particularly since France’s recognition in July 2024 of Morocco’s sovereignty over its southern Saharan provinces.
Observers agree that this decision represents both a strategic and humiliating blow to Algeria, whose government is the main facilitator and sponsor of the Polisario Front’s separatist campaign in those provinces.
MK/ac/fss/as/APA