Alain Juppé: “We confessed to our colonial crimes…But apology will lead us to a dead end”

Former French Prime Minister Alain Juppe said an official apology for the crimes committed by colonial France in Algeria will achieve nothing.

“And hence it is useless to return to the somber past, without concealment, even painful it is, but we must rather look towards the future”, added Mr Juppé.

In this sense, he said: “We discussed during a meeting on Tuesday with the President of the Republic Abdelaziz Bouteflika, bilateral relations, which are excellent.”

He also stated that regarding economic relations between Algeria and France, the two sides stressed the importance for both countries to develop them even further and to ensure that French companies get more interested in the vast Algerian market”.

“Our companies need a new market and Algeria needs to diversify its economy,” he said, adding that France “can contribute to this end through its experience, expertise and technology.”

The former French prime minister also defended the actions of his country, notably the imposition of a state of emergency, after the horrendous terror attacks in Paris on 13th November 2015, which inflicted an injury on the French people, as he spoke of the horrors experienced by the Algerian people during the national tragedy of the nineties during which 200,000 victims were mown down.

“We can exchange our views on that outstanding matter and on how best we can ward off the radicalization of young people on the Internet and in all environments where this nefarious radicalization is rife nowadays,” Mr Alain Juppé underscored.

On international politics, “we tackled the major crises that affect us closely like the situation in Libya, Syria and in Mali,” he said, while noting a “convergence of views” between Algeria and France for the settlement of these conflicts through “the search for viable political solutions geared to reconciliation and stabilization in these strife-torn countries.”