French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau threatened to quit the government if Paris renounces a power struggle with Algeria to accept its citizens in an irregular situation in France, in an interview with Le Parisien published online Saturday.
Algeria’s refusal to accept its citizens subject to an obligation to leave French territory, including the perpetrator of an attack that left one person dead in Mulhouse on February 22, has further soured relations between the two countries, already severely strained since President Emmanuel Macron’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in July.
“As long as I believe I’m being useful and the means are given to me, I will be mobilized,” the Interior Minister asserted in an interview with Le Parisien published online Saturday.
“But,” he warned, “if I were asked to give in on this issue that is so important for the security of the French people, I would obviously refuse.”
“I’m not here for a position but to fulfill a mission, that of protecting the French,” added the minister.
Bruno Retailleau, who has repeatedly made virulent statements against Algiers, particularly since the imprisonment of Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal in mid-November, was questioned about the Algerian situation and the “graduated response” he calls for if Algiers does not agree to take back its citizens who are illegally residing in France.
On Friday, the French government drew up an initial list of some sixty Algerian nationals it wishes to expel.