In a poignant and emotional statement, former French Prime Minister Dominique De Villepin affirmed, this Monday in Algiers, that it is essential for France to ask forgiveness from Algeria for the crimes perpetrated during 132 decolonization.
The former Prime Minister insists on the need for “apologies”. The French politician experienced this awareness from a young age. “I was 9 years old, I followed a conference led by my father in Latin America on the Algerian War and I perfectly understood what this gesture was worth,” says Mr. De Villepin, during a conference held in the Faculty of Information and Communication Sciences (Algiers-3), under the title “The new international situation”, emphasizing that “it is not with a small rag that we erase such a heavy dispute”.
“Today, even a President of the Republic does not have the power to express these apologies. Because it is our entire history that we must look at. In my opinion, we must make it a common past and step by step, we will move forward, people and leaders,” believes the speaker.
For Mr. De Villepin, “we do not decree a word or a word (apologies-editor’s note). I know this subject perfectly, as I was secretary general at the Elysée under President Jacques Chirac. I also know that there are obstacles, sometimes difficult, such as the work of Memory. But at each stage, we progress.”
Citing France’s recognition of the crimes committed against Maurice Audin and lawyer Ali Boumendjel, Mr. De Villepin affirmed that “President Emmanuel Macron has named a certain number of situations”, specifying that “the crimes colonial cannot be erased, but we all must recognize them. But, sometimes, it takes years to establish the veracity of certain situations and certain facts.”
De Villepin: “Algeria and France must bring about a shared vision”
For this reason, the former French prime minister believes that “Algeria and France have the privilege of having this complementarity in their global and historical relations. For me, it’s a state-to-state and people-to-people relationship.”
Arguing that it was time “to temper excesses, such as hatred, by transforming as many capacities into political dialogue”, Mr. De Villepin stressed that “Algeria and France must bring out a shared vision, based in particular on multilateralism (…) And we must accept our past in all its complexity and strengthen our capacity to build a better future together. »
Note that this conference saw the participation of advisors to the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, representatives of the CREA, the two ambassadors, respectively from Algeria to France and from France in Algeria, representatives of the APN and the Council of the Nation, Inesg, university researchers and students from several institutes in Algiers.
