Algeria recalls its ambassador from France over Macron's Western Sahara stance

On 30 July 2024, Algeria announced it was recalling its ambassador to France, Said Moussi, with immediate effect. The move followed a letter from President Emmanuel Macron to Morocco's King Mohammed VI, made public that day, in which France said the present and future of Western Sahara lay within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty.

Paris thereby backed Rabat's autonomy plan as the sole basis for resolving the long-running dispute over the territory. Morocco controls most of Western Sahara, while the Polisario Front, a pro-independence movement supported by Algeria, demands a referendum on self-determination. The United Nations has long treated the territory as unresolved.

Algiers called the French position a serious shift and ended a period of cautious rapprochement between the two countries. Relations had already been strained by disputes over history, migration and visas. The recall opened one of the deepest diplomatic rifts between the two states in years, and it later spilled into other areas, raising questions about trade and energy ties, including Algerian gas deliveries to France.