Commemoration of the Evian Accords: what are the challenges for Emmanuel Macron?

Arthur de Laborde 10:18 a.m., March 19, 2022

Emmanuel Macron commemorates this Saturday at midday the 60th anniversary of the Evian Accords and the ceasefire in Algeria.

A ceremony at the Elysée in the presence of witnesses of the time.

Less than a month before the first round of the presidential election, the head of state wants to spare all susceptibilities, while this date of March 19, 1962 remains an explosive subject.

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The date is far from unanimous among the "carriers" of Franco-Algerian memories.

Very contested also on the political level by a large part of the right in particular by Valérie Pécresse or Marine Le Pen and Éric Zemmour.

Because it must be said that the violence actually continued well beyond this ceasefire of March 19, 1962.

Emmanuel Macron multiplies initiatives to "appease" memories

"All the events related to the Algerian war did not end overnight," recognizes Emmanuel Macron's entourage.

But the Elysée assumes its choice and stresses that "to commemorate is not to celebrate".

In his speech this Saturday, the Head of State therefore intends to overcome all the wounds inherited from the conflict.

He who since 2017 has multiplied initiatives to "appease" memories and recognize the "singularity" of each of them.

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- Évian Agreements: from the end of the war to the independence of Algeria

From the commissioning of the Stora report, to the recognition of France's responsibility in the assassination of independence activists Maurice Audin and Ali Boumendjel, through the denunciation of the massacres of Pieds-noirs in Oran and rue d'Isly in Algiers, the facilitation of access to archives concerning the Algerian war or his request for "pardon" to the harkis.

Gestures that remain insufficient in the eyes of the Algerian authorities, who continue to demand an official apology for colonization.