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From August 25 to 27, 2022, Emmanuel Macron has planned an “official and friendship visit” to Algeria, in order to develop a partnership between the two countries. But what do French presidents say when they visit Algeria?
Since the country’s independence in 1962, French presidents have made a habit of visiting Algeria to try to strengthen ties between the two countries. Brut summarized what French presidents say when they travel to Algeria, from the evocation of the colonial past to speeches aimed at young people.
“I recognize here the suffering that colonization has inflicted on the Algerian people”
Whether François Hollande, Nicolas Sarkozy, Jacques Chirac or even François Mitterrand, French presidents have a habit of evoking the country’s colonial past when they visit Algeria. “Yes, the colonial system was deeply unjust. Yes, terrible crimes were committed throughout a war of independence that claimed countless casualties on both sides”, recognized Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007. 26 years earlier, François Mitterand also evoked this colonial past. “Algeria and France are both entitled to respect for their past.“
On the move, French presidents have also tended to discuss the future of the country and address Algerian youth. “Today we look to the future, fully to the future”, explained François Hollande in 2015. “It’s a chance, this youth, it’s a chance, and today we would be making a colossal mistake to think that this youth, it only looks at a past that is not even its own.”, completed Emmanuel Macron two years later. From August 25 to 27, 2022, the French president will travel to Algeria for an “official and friendship visit”.
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