The North Africa Journal – November 19, 2018: Algeria is having some diplomatic kerfuffle with France and Switzerland these days. With the French, the feud is about new limitations in issuing Schengen visas to Algerian members of parliament. With the Swiss, the resurrection of a legal case against a former Algerian top general, Khaled Nezzar, is irking Algiers.
There have been more chatter and speculations about the activities of Russia’s mercenaries, formerly known as the Wagner Group, now reportedly called the Afrika Corps in the Sahel. It is unclear if the name "Afrika Corps" is official, but if so, it certainly confirms...
West Africa’s economic grouping, ECOWAS, faces a new crisis as former chairman and Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo refuses to step down despite his mandate ending on February 27, 2025. Embalo, who once criticized Sahelian coup leaders on behalf of ECOWAS, now defies the organization, even expelling its mediation delegation.
France’s far-right movement has been escalating diplomatic tensions with Algeria by calling to revoke the 1968 Franco-Algerian Treaty. On February 26, 2025, members of the French government threatened unilateral termination of the treaty unless Algeria accepted the return of undocumented migrants.
Algeria summoned the French Ambassador to protest the planned “Chergui 2025” Franco-Moroccan military exercises scheduled for September near the Algerian border. Tensions between the nations have escalated following France’s support for Morocco’s position on Western Sahara.
