One more step to improve relationships? French President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday in Algiers the establishment of a joint commission of Algerian and French historians to study archives on colonization and war in Algeria. A decision made while the head of state went there to meet with his counterpart, Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
“We have a common past” that “is complex, painful” and “we have decided together” to create “a mixed commission of historians” to “look at the whole of this historical period”, “from the beginning of colonization to the war of liberation , without taboos, with the will (…) of full access to our archives,” he declared.
“An intensification of high-level visits”
The announcement is all the more significant since the French president’s visit coincides with the 60th anniversary of the end of the war and the proclamation of Algeria’s independence in 1962. The question of memory between the two countries remains controversial.
While the excuses expected by Algiers for colonization never came, Emmanuel Macron criticized in 2021 the “political-military system” of surfing on “commemorative rents”. Since then, the Elysée tenant has made amends and the two presidents have gradually restarted the bilateral partnership.
In this context, Paris and Algiers will relaunch various intergovernmental committees, particularly in the economic and strategic fields. They will increase cooperation at all levels and trade and there will be “an intensification of high-level visits,” said Abdelmajid Tebboune.
Source: BFM TV
