France rejects Algeria’s memory blackmail

French President Emmanuel Macron has ruled out offering any apologies to Algeria over France’s colonial past while insisting on continuing reconciliation efforts between the two countries.

In an interview with Algerian writer Kamal Daoud published on Le Point, Macron made it clear “I have no apologies to make.”

“The only pardon I asked for was for the Harkis,” he said.

The Harkis are the Algerians who fought on the side of France during the Algerian war of independence and who were either forced to flee the country after independence or stay and risk executions and torture.

In October 2022, Macron delivered straightforward remarks ending decades of complacency towards Algeria’s military regime when he described the military rulers of Algiers as “exhausted” and surviving on “memorial rent” based on hatred of French.

Similar views were expressed recently by French diplomats including former Ambassador to Algiers Xavier Driencourt who warned his country against connivance with a regime that is leading Algeria to a collapse that will impact France.

Algeria is collapsing and it will drag France with it, he said.