French President Hopes For Long-Term Reconciliation With Algeria

In a position that goes against the trend of bilateral relations, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his desire to move forward in the memory reconciliation file with Algeria, which has entered a dark tunnel since the French side decided to support the fictitious so-called “autonomy plan” in Western Sahara, which the Moroccan regime dreams of.

A statement published on the French presidency website read: “The President of the (French) Republic received the French members of the commission of the Franco-Algerian historians concerned with studying the memory file, at the Palais de l’Elysée, on September 19, 2024”.

“The Head of State first reiterated his determination to continue the work of memory, truth and reconciliation undertaken since 2017 and established with Algeria within the framework of the Algiers Declaration, signed by the President of the Republic (Emmanuel Macron) and President TEBBOUNE on August 27, 2022”, the statement added.

The French President, according to the source, warmly thanked all the Commission members during this work meeting for the excellence of the work carried out and called for its continuation so that the concrete proposals formulated by the Joint Franco-Algerian Commission of Historians can be implemented.

However, the Algerian side did not see any noteworthy achievement, given the French side’s insistence on its reserved position on restituting the original Algerian archives, on the grounds that the decision requires political will among the various political parties, according to what was stated by historians of the commission from the French side.

The French President stressed through this meeting the importance of reaching a “reconciliation between memories” by “hoping that these proposals will enable our country (France) to take a clear look at the past and to build, over the long term, a reconciliation of memories, in an approach of education and transmission for French and Algerian youth”, as he put it.

Still, Macron was convinced that achieving this at present seems difficult to achieve, as evidenced by his use of the phrase “over the long term”, which confirms the existence of a conviction on the French part that what it has presented at the level of the joint committee of historians, as well as at the level of political, diplomatic and economic relations, does not allow for the breakthrough hoped for by the French.

Algerian-French relations are in a real crisis, embodied by the reduction of diplomatic representation by Algeria to its lowest level after the withdrawal of Ambassador Said Moussi from Paris on July 30, 2024, to the level of Chargé d’Affaires. However, the French President congratulated his Algerian counterpart on reelection for a second term in the last Algerian presidential elections and sent an advisor on his behalf to El Mouradia Palace after that.

Previously, an official source related to the memory file had confirmed to “Echorouk” that the work of the joint commission in charge of the memory file is dependent on improving bilateral relations between the two countries, and this was before the last presidential elections. However, what happened after Macron congratulated his counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune did not rise to the level of removing the fog that hung over bilateral relations at the end of last July, which was followed by a fiery statement issued by the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which confirmed that “the French decision does not in any way serve the goals of peace in Western Sahara and causes the stagnation of the political process to resolve this issue, and contributes to consolidating the colonial fait accompli in this region.”

The consequences of the French decision on Western Sahara are still present, according to the observers, which makes the possibility of the Algerian side’s involvement in the French effort to reconcile the memory file out of reach at present, which is what Macron himself expressed in the French presidency’s statement when he used the phrase “in the long term.”