French President Emmanuel Macron will not apologize for atrocities committed by French troops during the colonization of Algeria, his office says.
There will be “no repentance” or “apology” for the colonization of Algeria or the 1954-1962 Algerian War of Independence that ended 132 years of French rule, the presidential office said Wednesday.
Macron will instead take part in “symbolic acts” to promote reconciliation, it said.
Macron, the first French president born after the colonial era, acknowledged during his 2017 presidential campaign that the colonization of Algeria was a “crime against humanity.”
In 2018, he also admitted that France had implemented a system that facilitated torture during the Algerian war.
The statement comes hours before a major report on how France is dealing with its colonial past in Algeria.
The report, compiled by historian Benjamin Stora, is expected to recommend ways to shed light on one of the darker chapters in French history.
Algeria is still awaiting an apology for France’s occupation of the country.
The French presidency said Macron would participate in three commemorative days in 2022, marking the 60th anniversary of the end of the Algerian war.
by Basit Abbasi – CCTV
