Emmanuel Macron is working on a commemoration that will take place outside the ceremonies of March 19, date of the ceasefire and the Evian accords of 1962.
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Emmanuel Macron wants to continue “until the last quarter of an hour” his work for the reconciliation of memories of the Algerian war. The executive is thus working on a commemoration to bring them together on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the end of the conflict in 2022. This commemoration will take place outside the ceremonies of March 19, date of the ceasefire and the agreements of Evian in 1962. Because if for the conscripts, March 19 corresponds to the “keel”, for the career soldiers it is about a defeat and for the harkis it is the date on which France abandoned them. “Communitarized memories which often clash”, notes historian Benjamin Stora.
Geneviève Darrieussecq, the Minister in charge of Memory and Veterans Affairs, is piloting the file. “We must build a memorial time that has meaning for all”, she explains. She wishes “find a neutral date” around which “unite all the memories of this painful conflict”. She began to bring together the associations of the fighting world to work on a common meeting. Les Invalides are cited as a probable location for this commemoration.
The commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Evian accords will be a perilous exercise for Emmanuel Macron. On March 19, we will be one month away from the first round of the presidential election. One of the tracks, still confidential, is for the President of the Republic to go to a school. For a few years now, the National Veterans Office has, for example, made testify in front of former students of the various camps those who wanted independence and supporters of French Algeria. “Without doubt one of the only places where these people manage to talk to each other”, indicates our source.
Until then, other milestones will occur in what Emmanuel Macron’s memory advisor calls his “memorial pilgrimage” to try to weave a “peaceful common memory”. Last fall, the Head of State received the harkis associations and asked for forgiveness. On January 13, it will be the turn of the black foot associations. According to the Elysee, Emmanuel Macron will send the “returnees” the words of gratitude they expect. The Élysée also announced a national tribute to Gisèle Halimi, a great feminist figure but also one of the lawyers of the Algerian separatists. It is scheduled for 2022 but the date is still not set.