The Franco-Algerian relationship took a chill after the postponement of the visit of French Prime Minister Jean Castex, who was to co-chair a meeting of the High-Level Intergovernmental Committee (CHIN) on Sunday, April 11 in Algiers.
The announcement of this postponement, which took place Thursday, April 8, coincided with unexpected remarks by Minister of Labor El Hachemi Djaaboub, who described France as Algeria’s “ traditional and eternal enemy ”, and threats hardly veil of the Minister of Communication, spokesman of the government against the Ambassador of France in Algeria.
If Algiers has not commented on the postponement of Castex’s visit, nor reacted to Djaaboub’s remarks, the reactions were numerous in Paris where these events caused an uproar among the political class.
The government condemned and deplored Djaaboub’s remarks while reaffirming France’s attachment to its relationship with Algeria.
This Sunday, it was French President Emmanuel Macron himself who reacted by pointing out “ some resistance ” in Algeria to efforts to reconcile memories between the peoples of the two countries.
“No repentance, no denial”
He expressed the existence of a desire for reconciliation “is very widely shared, in particular by President (Algerian Abdelmadjid) Tebboune“. “It is true that he has to reckon with some resistance… ”, declared Mr. Macron in an interview with Le Figaro.
The French president thus joins his Algerian counterpart on the existence of lobbies on both sides of the Mediterranean which are an obstacle to the Algerian-French reconciliation.
Last July, President Tebboune pointed out in an interview with Le Figaro “minority lobbies, but very dangerous who try to undermine the work” of President Macron.
He had questioned “revengeful people known for their anti-Algerianness, who still think that Algeria has been sold off and has not been liberated, that General de Gaulle is a traitor.”
The French president also reacted to Djaaboub’s remarks by qualifying them as “unacceptable“.
On the issue of memory, which one of the subjects of contention between the two countries, he reiterated his neither, nor. “I am neither in repentance nor in denial. I believe in a policy of recognition that makes our nation stronger”, he said.
When the Stora report on colonization and the Algerian war was published, the Élysée ruled out that France would apologize or repent on colonization.
Algeria has always demanded recognition by France of its crimes during the colonial period, and the restitution of all its archives.
