Emmanuel Macron estimated on Friday August 26 that the search for ” the truth “ and of ” the gratitude “ was more important than ” repentance “ on the questions of colonization and the war in Algeria which poisoned the relationship between Paris and Algiers.
“I often hear that, on the question of memory and the Franco-Algerian question, we are constantly summoned to choose between pride and repentance. Me, I want the truth, the recognition, otherwise we will never move forward”said the French president during a press briefing in Algiers on the second day of his visit to Algeria.
In addition, on Friday he paid a long visit to the European cemetery of Saint-Eugene, in the suburbs of Algiers. The French president and his Algerian counterpart, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, sealed their reconciliation on Thursday after months of diplomatic estrangement, particularly around the question of French colonization (1830-1962).
Reconciliation and meditation
Under a blazing sun, Mr. Macron first laid a wreath in front of the monument to the “died for France”before the choir of the French army sings The Marseillaise in the main cemetery of Algiers from the time of French colonization. The French president was accompanied by the Minister of Defense, Sébastien Lecornu, and representatives of veterans’ associations.
Then, he strolled through the different sectors of the cemetery, accompanied by the Algerian person in charge of the place, in the middle of pines and cypresses, in a peaceful and collected atmosphere. He stopped in the military square, then for a long time in the Jewish square.
Mr. Macron notably gathered at the grave of actor and director Roger Hanin, born in Algeria, buried in 2015 under a very sober marble slab. Then, he stopped in front of a monument to the “three brothers, three heroes who died gloriously for France” during the 1914-1918 war: Maurice, Léon and Paul Mayer.