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French President Emmanuel Macron wants to take further steps to acknowledge the mistakes of the French colonial era in Algeria, but is not considering a formal apology, his office said.
A report commissioned by Macron, due to be released on Wednesday, offered proposals to improve the complex relations between the two countries, from opening war archives to holding memorial services.
2 pictures
On the massacres and repression of the French colonialists in Algeria
On the massacres and repression of the French colonialists in Algeria
On the massacres and repression of the French colonialists in Algeria
Macron’s office said there would be no “apology,” but Macron intends to take “symbolic steps” aimed at affirming recognition of the harsh colonial reality and helping to reconcile the two countries.
Macron is scheduled to participate in a three-day commemoration ceremony next year to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of the eight-year war against France that led the North African country to gain independence in 1962, after 132 years. French domain.
Macron’s office added that France would work to “continue and expand” the opening of its war archive, as work is underway to allow the publication of documents classified as secret.
Among other measures, Macron wants to honor Giselle Halimi, a French feminist who supported the independence of Algeria and denounced the use of torture by the French army during the war.
2 pictures
On the massacres and repression of the French colonialists in Algeria
On the massacres and repression of the French colonialists in Algeria
The massacres of May 8, 1945 – Algeria
The French president is planning to launch an operation to bury Halimi in the Pantheon in Paris, which is the sanctuary of some of the most prominent French citizens.
Macron, the first French president born after Algeria’s independence, promised to open a new chapter in France’s relationship with Algeria during his presidency, even confronting the painful history of this country.
In 2018, Macron officially recognized the French state’s responsibility for the death of an opposition figure in Algeria in 1957, admitting for the first time the use of systematic torture by the army during the war.
This was well received in Algeria, but sparked angry reactions in France from the right and the far right, which Macron may not want to raise against him before the 2022 presidential elections.
Macron, the centrist who received votes from the left and right, did not rule out the possibility of running for a second term.
Last year, historian Benjamin Stora was tasked with assessing France’s relationship to Algeria’s colonial anniversary and the War of Independence.
In her report, Stora noted that “exaggerations in the apology culture” do not necessarily help counter the past.
“I don’t know if the official letter of apology was enough to bandage the wounds of the painful memories. In my opinion, the most important thing is to improve the knowledge of what the colonial regime was like, its daily reality and its ideological objectives, and how some in Algeria and France resisted this system of hegemony, “he said.
And Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said last year that his country was waiting for an official apology for the French colonial occupation.
6 pictures
On the massacres and repression of the French colonialists in Algeria
On the massacres and repression of the French colonialists in Algeria
The massacres of May 8, 1945 – Algeria
On the massacres and repression of the French colonialists in Algeria
