President Tebboune: “We Won’t Give Up Memory File, Whatever The Justifications”

The President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, stated on Saturday that the excellence of relations with France was linked to the treatment of the Memory file, which must be rid of the survivals of colonialism.

In a message on the occasion of the National Day of Remembrance (May 8, 1945), read out on his behalf by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Moudjahidine or War Veterans, Laid Rebika, President Tebboune said that “the excellence of relations with the French Republic cannot exist outside of history and the treatment of the files of memory, which cannot be subject to any renunciation.

The sites of memory with France “remain open”, said the President of the Republic, mentioning their continuation on the subject of the repatriation of the skulls of our valiant Shouhada or Martyrs, the disappeared, the recovery of archives and the compensation of victims of French nuclear explosions in the Algerian Sahara.

For President Tebboune, these issues must be treated “with seriousness and balance” so that the strengthening of relations between Algeria and France will be based on solid foundations.

“If looking towards the promising future is the key to strengthening and enhancing ties between nations, this future must nevertheless have a solid foundation, free of all the turpitudes of the past,” the Head of State stressed, affirming that “Algeria is ready to overcome all obstacles and iron out all difficulties for a better future, and to bolster an exceptional partnership to raise relations to a strategic level, provided that the right conditions are met.

The two peoples of Algeria and France “aspire to a better future marked by trust and understanding, in the best interests of their mutual respect and equality,” the President of the Republic concluded.