PARIS — Algeria recalled its ambassador in France “with immediate effect” on Tuesday following a decision by French President Emmanuel Macron to back Morocco’s plan for Western Sahara to become an autonomous region under Moroccan control.
Morocco has long claimed sovereignty over Western Sahara, a coastal territory in North Africa formerly controlled by Spain. But Algeria backs the Polisario Front, a group that for decades has fought for the region’s self-determination.
Morocco’s plan for the Western Sahara — backed by Spain and the United States, among others — involves the creation of an autonomous region under Moroccan control similar to the model of Spanish regions such as Catalonia or the Basque Country.
“The French government has ended up giving its forthright and unequivocal support to the colonial rule imposed on Western Sahara,” the Algerian Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement, referring to Morocco as colonizer.
“The current government has taken this step, which no other French government before it had thought necessary to take, with great flippancy and carelessness,” Algeria’s statement added.
Until now, France had called the Moroccan plan “a serious and credible basis for discussion” without formally endorsing it.
Macron’s endorsement of the Moroccan plan for Western Sahara was praised not only within his own ranks, but also by lawmakers from other parties, including far-right leader Marine Le Pen. Le Pen nonetheless jabbed Macron by posting on X that the “French government had been slow to recognize Morocco’s ongoing commitment.”
Some voices on the left attacked the French president’s policy switch. Greens leader Marine Tondelier on X accused Macron of “betraying France’s historic position” of not formally endorsing a plan, and of having acted without consulting the leading political faction in France’s currently hazy political landscape.
The United Nations list Western Sahara as a “non-self-governing territory,” a category that includes territories “whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government.”
In a letter shared Tuesday by the Moroccan royal office, Macron wrote that “autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the framework within which this issue shall be resolved” and described support from Paris for the plan as “clear and unwavering.”
“The French government is trampling international law,” Algiers clapped back, accusing France of “setting itself apart from the patient and persistent efforts of the United Nations to decolonize Western Sahara.”
France ruled over Algeria as a colony until 1962, while Morocco remained a French protectorate until 1956. Paris retains often strained relations with both North African states.
Tensions flared between France and Morocco in 2021, when Paris reduced by half the number of visas allotted Moroccan citizens. France abandoned the policy two years later.
Algeria harbors resentment toward France due to questions around restitution and the return of Algerian historical items held by French institutions.
The ties between France and Algeria are also strategically important: The import of Algerian gas to France has increased since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.