Macron Agrees To Consider Algeria A War Zone To July 1964

French National Assembly (parliament) announced the approval of President Emmanuel Macron in principle to consider Algeria as a war zone until the month of July 1964, which allows to honor 80.000 French soldiers who were in Algeria during that period and give them warrior cards.

The report of the Finance, Economics and Budget Control Committee of the French National Assembly was devoted to examining the file of the War Veterans’ Budget in the French Finance Act of 2018 said that the French President Emmanuel Macron agreed, when he was nominated for the presidency, to consider Algeria as a foreign war zone from July 2, 1962 until July 1, 1964 known as the “OPEX”, thus restoring the consideration of the French soldiers who worked in Algeria during the same period.

The report, dated October 25, 2017, and which copy is available to Echorouk, confirmed that Emmanuel Macron sent an official letter as a candidate for the French presidency on May 2, 2011, to the French Federation of War Veterans in Algeria (FNACA) and stated that he agreed that Algeria should be considered a zone of military operations to rehabilitate and eliminate the inequality that is faced by the French soldiers who had served in Algeria during that period.

The Republicans’ MP and the secretary of the Social Affairs Committee of the French Parliament, Gilles Lurton, called for an amendment to the Finance Act of 2018, which includes giving this group of French soldiers the card of veterans, explaining that the amendment is a continuation of a bill that he had submitted to the French National Assembly.

He said that the classification of Algeria as a foreign war zone until 1964 came to put an end to the inequality that is experienced by this category of the French soldiers who remained in Algeria until July,1, 1964.

It is expected that these measures towards the French soldiers who worked in Algeria after independence, will incur a total budget of 18 million euros, according to the Special Rapporteur of the Finance and Budget Committee of the French Parliament.

According to Republican MP, Gilles Lurton, this amendment, if approved, would affect 24,000 French soldiers who are still alive and who worked in Algeria after July 2, 1962, until July 1, 1964, adding 750 euros to each of them.

Previously, French MPs and senators submitted more than once bills in the National Assembly and Senate, revealing that 80.000 French soldiers worked in Algeria in the period after independence, specifically from July,1, 62, to July,1, 1964, demanding the rehabilitation of this category of soldiers.

On October 17th, marking the 56th anniversary of the protests of October, 17, 1961 in Paris, where hundreds of Algerians were killed by Maurice Papon, two French legislators introduced a bill accusing Algeria of massacring Harkis (traitors) after independence., as the text of the project confirmed that half a million (500,000) Harkis and their families are still loyal to France, as indicated by Echorouk in a previous number.