Macron and Tebboune attempt to defuse French-Algerian diplomatic crisis with phone call

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said on Monday that they had had a promising phone conversation as they try to ease diplomatic tensions between their two countries.

“The two presidents had a long, frank and friendly exchange on the state of bilateral relations and the tensions that have built up in recent months", read a joint statement issued after the call on Monday evening.

Algeria has been refusing to readmit nationals whom French authorities have ordered to leave for their criminal activities or perceived threat to public order.

The diplomatic standoff has been inflamed by the imprisonment of dissident Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who last week was sentenced to five years in prison and fined for allegedly undermining Algeria’s territorial integrity.

In Monday's statement, Macron reiterated "his confidence in the farsightedness of President Tebboune" while calling "for a gesture of clemency and humanity towards Mr Boualem Sansal, in view of the writer's age and state of health".

Breaking point

Although the diplomatic dispute has intensified this year, it began in earnest last July when France backed Morocco's longstanding claim to the disputed Western Sahara territory.

The decision was met with outrage by the Algerian government, which supports the local Sahrawi people's claim to self-determination. Algiers proceeded to recall its Paris ambassador.

When Algiers last month refused to readmit around 60 of its nationals who had been ordered to leave France, Interior Minister Bruno Rétailleau accused Algeria of "breaking international law".

French ministers have begun to question some of the landmark political treaties France has signed with its former colony. In February, Prime Minister François Bayrou called on his government to "reexamine" a 1968 migration pact which has historically made it easier for Algerians to settle in France.

Upon his reelection in September, Tebboune announced he would not travel to France, having already repeatedly postponed a state visit first planned for last May.

Since coming to power, he has repressed freedom of expression in Algeria, imprisoning journalists and pro-democracy activists.