Algeria's National People's Assembly unanimously voted on December 24, 2025, a law to criminalize French colonization from 1830 to 1962, aiming to secure recognition and official apologies from the French state. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs deplored the initiative as «manifestly hostile» to resuming bilateral dialogue. Nevertheless, Paris expresses its desire to restart discussions on security and migration issues.
On December 24, 2025, in the early afternoon, Algeria's lower house of Parliament unanimously adopted a transpartisan bill criminalizing French colonization (1830-1962). This text, submitted by a group of deputies and discussed the previous Saturday, contains 27 articles and explicitly aims for «the recognition and official apologies from the French State». Mohamed Lahcene Zghidi, coordinator with historian Benjamin Stora of the Commission for History and Memory, described the vote as a «historic moment» and a «clear and strong parliamentary response addressed to Algeria's enemies and the world». The initiative directly responds to «those who glorify colonization in the French parliament», according to the Algerian news agency.
For its part, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the Quai d'Orsay, reacted by labeling the measure a «manifestly hostile initiative, both to the will to resume Franco-Algerian dialogue and to serene work on memory issues». The spokesperson emphasized that France has «no vocation to comment on Algerian internal politics» but can only regret this step, recalling «the extent of the work undertaken by President Emmanuel Macron» on the memory of colonization, particularly through a joint commission of French and Algerian historians.
Despite the tensions, the Quai d'Orsay added: «We continue to work towards resuming a demanding dialogue with Algeria that can address the priority interests of France and the French, particularly regarding security and migration issues». This Algerian law fits into a context of Franco-Algerian relations marked by ongoing debates on colonial heritage, with no major contradictions appearing in the available sources.
