Algeria has denounced fresh French sanctions on the North African nation as the latest in "a long series of threats and harassment" targeting the country.
In a statement, the Algerian Foreign Ministry called the French move another act of "provocation."
"Algeria was not officially informed of the French measures, as required by bilateral agreements between the two countries," it said.
These sanctions "will not affect Algeria in any way," the ministry stressed.
On Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot announced new sanctions against Algeria during an interview with broadcaster BFMTV.
Barrot declared that he had taken "measures to restrict movement and access to national territory for certain Algerian dignitaries.”
"These are reversible measures which will come to an end as soon as the cooperation we are calling for resumes," the minister said.
He added that France is ready to take further measures if no progress is observed.
Volatile ties
Barrot also reiterated his readiness to go to Algeria if that would "unblock a certain number of situations."
France is taking action against Algeria for its refusal to receive certain illegal nationals expelled from France, including the assailant of the Mulhouse attack, as well as the imprisonment of the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, he said.
On Saturday, an Algerian national who was reported to have a deportation order against him stabbed one person to death and injured five others near a market in the city of Mulhouse.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that the prosecution has classified the attack as a "terrorist act.”
Algeria refused to take in the suspect 10 times, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said during an interview with French TV channel TF1 on Saturday.
The interior minister then suggested that the government needed to change the “balance of power” with Algeria.
Meanwhile, French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou urged Algeria to reconsider the 1968 immigration agreements that granted Algerian nationals special status in France.
"France will ask the Algerian government to reexamine the entirety of the agreements between the two countries," Bayrou said, following an inter-ministerial council on immigration.
The 1968 accords, signed six years after Algeria’s independence from France, provided Algerian nationals with unique privileges regarding entry, residency, and employment in France.
"We must prevent any escalation with Algeria," he said, signalling a cautious approach amid already strained relations between Paris and Algiers.
The diplomatic relations between Algeria and France remain volatile, particularly due to unresolved issues stemming from France's colonisation of Algeria from 1830 to 1962.
Paris has refused to fully address the historical grievances that continue to affect Algerian society.
