By acknowledging France's "debt" to French Polynesia after the nuclear tests carried out for 30 years in the Pacific, Emmanuel Macron is "in line" with his memorial policy carried out since the start of his five-year term, believes the historian Jean Garrigues, on Europe 1. 

TO ANALYSE

His speech was eagerly awaited by the inhabitants.

Tuesday, in Papeete, Emmanuel Macron affirmed that France had "a debt" towards French Polynesia for having carried out nearly 200 nuclear tests in the Pacific for 30 years, until 1996, and in particular announced that the victims of these tests would be better compensated.

A declaration which is part of a very precise memorial policy of the President of the Republic, recalls on Europe 1 the historian Jean Garrigues.

Because before his speech on the archipelago, the Head of State had already stepped up his actions towards Rwanda and Algeria. 

Speeches on Rwanda and Algeria

For Jean Garrigues, this presidential statement in Polynesia is "consistent with what Emmanuel Macron's memorial policy is, which aims to try to recognize a debt vis-à-vis a certain number of territories".

Earlier in the quinquennium, he recalls, "there had been this formula which had made a lot of noise around the colonization of Algeria as a crime against humanity, the report of the Stora mission on the memory of the Algerian war, the Duclert report on the genocide in Rwanda ".

This line, he believes, "goes rather towards a form of recognition, almost of repentance vis-à-vis these actions, this colonial history".

ANALYSIS - 

Macron in Rwanda: a nuanced speech, a mixed reception

"The notion of forgiveness can cause controversy"

Still, in Polynesia, no more than for Algeria or Rwanda, Emmanuel Macron did not apologize on behalf of France.

"It is part of the 'at the same time' Macronian", analyzes the guest of Europe 1, who considers that "the notion of forgiveness is a complicated notion in the mouth of a President of the Republic".

"This would mean that Emmanuel Macron passes a totally negative judgment on the policies of his predecessors", he said, and in addition, "the notion of forgiveness can cause controversy".

Also, he concludes, "we can understand the hesitation of Emmanuel Macron". 

According to the historian, in terms of memorial policy, Emmanuel Macron "goes further" than these predecessors. "He tries to be in a policy of memorial reconciliation, which very often involves this idea, not of repentance, but of settling a certain number of debts, of accounts". A position that would be facilitated by belonging to a new generation, says Jean Garrigues. "It is the big difference with Mitterrand and Chirac, who lived the tragedies and the conflicts on which they were implied ... Him, being the man of a new generation, he can afford to settle accounts."