The French president estimated, in an interview with the Algerian writer Kamel Daoud, that “the work of memory and history is not a balance of all accounts”.
French President Emmanuel Macron believes he has “not to apologize” to Algeria for colonization, but hopes to welcome his counterpart Abdelmajid Tebboune to France in 2023 to continue the work of memory and reconciliation between the two countries .
“I don’t have to ask for forgiveness, that’s not the point, the word would break all ties,” he explains in a long interview with Algerian writer Kamel Daoud to the French weekly. Point released Wednesday evening. “The worst would be to conclude: ‘We apologize and everyone goes their own way'”, he says. “The work of memory and history is not a balance of all accounts”, he continues.
“It is, on the contrary, to maintain that there is something unqualifiable, something misunderstood, something undecidable perhaps, something unforgivable,” he stresses.
A visit by the Algerian president in 2023?
The issue of apologies is at the heart of the bilateral relationship and recurring tensions between the two countries. In 2020, Algeria had freshly welcomed a report by the French historian Benjamin Stora advocating a series of gestures to try to reconcile the two countries, while excluding “repentance” and “apologies”.
“I also hope that President Tebboune will be able to come to France in 2023”, notes Emmanuel Macron, in order to continue “an unprecedented work of friendship (..)” after the visit he himself made in Algeria in August 2022.
Asked about the possibility of a ceremony of meditation by the Algerian president on the graves of members of Abdelkader’s suite, heroes of the resistance to French colonization, buried in Amboise, he estimated that it would be “a very beautiful and very strong moment” and that he “wished for it”.
“I believe it will make sense in the history of the Algerian people. For the French people, it will be an opportunity to understand often hidden realities,” he said again. Abdel Kader (1808-1883) was detained in Amboise with several members of his family from 1848 to 1852.
“You have to know how to stretch out your hand”
President Macron’s trip to Algiers in August put the bilateral relationship back on track after a crisis linked to comments he had made in October 2021. The Head of State then criticized the “politico-military system ” Algerian to surf on the “memory rent” and had wondered about the existence of an Algerian nation before colonization.
“It may be a clumsy phrase that could hurt,” concedes Emmanuel Macron. But “these moments of tension teach us”, he adds, “you have to know how to stretch out your hand”.
Emmanuel Macron also calls for the “appeasement” of tensions between Algeria and Morocco, the two rival powers in the region. He says he does not believe in a war between these neighbors, while noting “speculation among some, fantasy among others and even the will to war among some”.
Algeria severed diplomatic relations with Morocco in August 2021, accusing Rabat of “hostile acts”. A decision “completely unjustified”, according to Rabat.
