Algeria Threatens Drastic Retaliation Against France Over Diplomatic Property Dispute

Watan-Algeria is reportedly considering severe countermeasures against France, including reducing the size of the French Embassy in Algiers by as much as 85%, in response to what it describes as continued harassment of its ambassador’s residence in Paris. If enacted, such measures would signify an unprecedented low in bilateral relations between the two nations.

According to the widely read Algerian newspaper El Khabar, citing informed sources, Algeria may invoke its longstanding principle of “sacred reciprocity.” This could involve reducing the French ambassador’s residence in Algiers from 4 hectares to just 1, and the embassy grounds from 14 hectares to 2. In addition, Algeria may revise the symbolic rental fees France pays for these properties, which haven’t changed in decades, to reach several million euros.

These moves come after French municipal authorities in Neuilly-sur-Seine—where the Algerian ambassador resides—revoked parking privileges and imposed a €11,700 annual tax on the residence’s guard post, moves Algeria views as “petty” provocations. The paper described them as symbolic of France’s failure to respond to Algeria’s firm diplomatic stance with anything but hostility toward parking spaces and a 2-square-meter security gate.

The French Embassy in Algiers is located in the upscale district of Hydra, occupying one of the largest foreign diplomatic compounds in the country, complete with offices, residences, and the consulate. Late national war veterans’ leader Saïd Abadou once publicly questioned whether the French mission truly needed such expansive grounds.

This isn’t the first time Algeria has raised the issue of French property in the country as part of pressure tactics. In March, the Algerian News Agency criticized France for “long ignoring the real estate file,” highlighting 61 French-occupied properties in Algeria rented at negligible rates. For example, the French Embassy covers 14 hectares (140,000 square meters) for a symbolic rent that, according to the agency, “doesn’t even cover the cost of a maid’s room in Paris.”

The French ambassador’s residence, Les Oliviers (“The Olive Trees”), sits on 4 hectares and has been leased for a symbolic franc since 1962. “France has never shown similar generosity to Algeria on its own soil,” the agency added.

The same article pointed to the unbalanced nature of bilateral agreements, including the 1968 deal granting Algerians special residency status in France—beneficial to France due to Algerian labor contributions—while Algeria receives no equivalent privileges. It also highlighted the 1994 trade and investment treaty, which gives French firms favorable conditions in Algeria while limiting opportunities for Algerian companies in France.

This new chapter of tension comes as relations were already strained. France recently refused to release a detained Algerian consular employee, one of three suspects in an alleged attempted kidnapping of dissident Amira Dzad. Despite a French appeals court rejecting all release options, Algeria denounced the arrest as “disgraceful,” stating the diplomat—who is legally protected by immunity—was treated like a thief.

Algeria responded by expelling 12 French consular staffers. France retaliated by summoning its ambassador from Algiers—an unprecedented diplomatic move not seen since Algeria’s independence in 1962.