It is a new outstretched hand from Emmanuel Macron to Algeria. The head of state wants to invite the Algerian president to Paris very soon for a state visit.
President Tebboune’s visit could take place in early March
The State visit is the maximum degree in terms of protocol. This means stops at the National Assembly, the Senate, the Paris City Hall, trips to the regions, and a program for the spouse. In short, the red carpet rolled out for Abdelmadjid Tebboune. The visit is not yet official, but the Quai d’Orsay is busy behind the scenes and has already warned several of our institutions that they would have visitors. The date scheduled for this event was first March 19, a symbolic date if ever there was one. March 19 is the day of the ceasefire in 1962. But the problem with this date is that the harkis like the black feet believe that the violence started from the official cessation of hostilities, so it’s a bad symbol. This may explain why the calendar is being adjusted, probably at the beginning of March, according to an adviser to the executive contacted yesterday. In any case, Emmanuel Macron does not save on the subject!
The French president went to Algiers in August. In October, he sent fifteen ministers there with Elisabeth Borne. It really is diplomatic voluntarism. The Head of State wants to manage to reconcile memories. Vast challenge. He launched the idea with his counterpart of a joint commission of historians. The initiative that took a long time is starting to take shape. He has been looking for the right balance since 2017. He sometimes tripped over the carpet, remembering on the question of colonization, “crimes like humanity”. This week, the Head of State publishes a river interview in the magazine Le Point to return to the complex, tense, ambiguous relationship between our two countries.
Emmanuel Macron speaks in Le Point about Algeria
He believes that this memorial subject is not only diplomatic. He lists in his interview all the categories of the population impacted in France by these conflicts of memory: “Algerians living in France, French immigrants with an Algerian parent, harkis, their children, repatriates and their families, those who fought on Algerian soil. We exceed 10 million people. What justifies such a deployment of diplomatic energy?
