French Fear of the Algerian-Italian Rapprochement in Wheat Production
Signs of real French fears regarding the Algerian-Italian rapprochement have appeared, especially regarding wheat and dry legume production projects in the country’s southern regions.
French elites and circles understood the Algerian-Italian rapprochement as a direct “diminishment” of Paris’s share in the Algerian market.
The explicit expression of this French concern and apprehension about the Algerian-Italian rapprochement in agriculture and wheat production, in particular, came during a debate in the Senate, the upper house of the French Parliament, held on February 12.
The debate brought together some members of the “Sénat” with the researcher and professor of geopolitical issues Adlene Mohammedi, who is of Algerian origin, to discuss ways to resolve the diplomatic crisis between Algeria and France.
During the discussion, which content was checked out by “Echorouk”, Senator Akli Mellouli of Val-de-Marne, who is also of Algerian origin, spoke about the Algerian-Italian rapprochement and the investments that he described as heavy within the framework of the “Mattei” plan directed at the African continent, in addition to the competition of the Americans as well.
In this regard, he said, “As I was saying today, as we see about wheat, you know that there is a Mattei plan because we should take into account that we are not alone in this world in Africa, there are the Americans but also the Italians who have put in place a Mattei plan with very large investments in Africa in general, and especially in Algeria.”
“They (the Italians) will take 36,000 hectares in southern Algeria to produce wheat, and thus Algeria will achieve self-sufficiency and this wheat will also go to Italy, which means that the quantities of wheat we sell will be much less (referring to France), and this is also realistic,” added Senator Akli Mellouli.
The French politician stressed that if this issue is not taken into account, that is, the Algerian-Italian rapprochement in the field of wheat, it will lead to further isolation of France because Paris does not only have problems with Algeria but also with other countries.
In this regard, he explained: “We have competitors who are our friends but also our rivals, and if we do not take this issue into account, we will end up isolated, because as I said, there are problems with Algeria and also in Senegal, especially with the development of anti-French sentiments.”
Senator Akli Mellouli concluded his intervention by directing a question to researcher Adlane Mohammedi, which read: “Do you think today as a researcher that we can abandon the Paris-Algiers axis, which is a strong axis for the Mediterranean, without doing injustice to others, especially for development in Africa?”
In response to Senator Mellouli’s question, the researcher of Algerian origin, Adlene Mohammedi, stressed that he does not believe at all in the necessity of sacrificing the bilateral relationship between Algeria and France, describing this discourse that calls for sacrificing this relationship as “very dangerous”, and also because from a diplomatic point of view “it does not carry much weight and meaning”.
Geopolitical researcher Adlene Mohammadi considered that the difference between France and Italy is the colonial weight that does not consider itself, pointing out that calling this plan by the Italian government “Mattei” also has implications, because Mattei is ultimately “Eni” and support for the National Liberation Front and the independence of Algeria, and it also has its impact in Algeria and North Africa.
“There is this difference and unfortunately we have a political discourse in France, regardless of the discourse in Algeria, because the discourse in Algeria is not new, in contrast, the expressions used in the political debate in France regarding the Algerian issue are at the expense of bilateral relations,” Mohammedi added.
In this regard, he explained: “I remember that before the legislative session and even before the amendment of the previous immigration law, there were parliamentary attempts to unilaterally overturn the 1968 immigration agreement with Algeria, and at that time President Macron stated that it was not the parliament’s job to play the role of France’s foreign relations instead of me.”
He concluded by saying: “Today we have the impression that this danger exists, even from outside parliament, through the ability of a clique or political class (referring to the far right) to influence, sometimes inappropriately and disproportionately, French foreign policy.”
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