Bruno Retailleau accuses the RN of saying "anything" on the question of Algerian imams welcomed in France

Since France does not have enough imams for the Ramadan period that begins on February 28, visas are granted each year to foreign religious leaders . This will also apply to Algerian imams, the weekly Marianne revealed yesterday , while relations between France and Algeria have reached a very high point of tension on the migration issue . The Picardy MP of the National Rally, Jean-Philippe Tanguy, was quick to seize on this information to denounce what he considers to be a double game by the government. "Bruno Retailleau still authorizes Algerian imams to come and interfere, in defiance of the promises made a thousand times to the French to refuse them!" he wrote on X, Monday evening.

An attack to which the Minister of the Interior responded on the same social network. "Migratory firmness does not mean saying and doing anything," he asserts, before explaining that "the arrival of these Imams has been strictly regulated for decades, they come to France during Ramadan and then leave." He continues: "My policy is, on the one hand, to hunt down Islamists, and on the other hand, to strengthen the feeling of belonging to our national community among our Muslim compatriots." Retailleau defends freedom of worship, assuring that not doing so would amount to "proving the extremists right," to the detriment of "sincere Muslim patriots." Finally, he says he refuses to believe that in the Republic "you would have to be a bad believer to be a good Frenchman."

This justification, far from calming the ardor of the National Rally, almost contributed to strengthening it. The vice-president of the group in the Assembly, Laurent Jacobelli, went back on the attack: "Unable to expel Algerian influencers, Bruno Retailleau prefers to import their imams. He spoke like us but acted like a Macronist. Now, he speaks like a Macronist and acts like a Macronist. Finally, some consistency!" The RN deputy of the North Sébastien Chenu affirms "that it did not take Bruno Retailleau six months to give in to Algeria's demands" . Interviewed on Cnews this Wednesday morning, the president of the UDR, Éric Ciotti also criticized his former ally: "The Minister of the Interior has strong words, but weak actions. Why this gift to Algeria?"

While "detached imams" , civil servants of foreign states financed by another country, have not been tolerated in France since January 1, 2024, Beauvau is sticking to its policy of hosting a few dozen Algerian imams during Ramadan. This discreet practice, brought to light while Algiers and Paris are in the midst of a diplomatic quarrel, has certainly not finished fueling the debates...