Sixty years ago to the day, on March 18, 1962, the Évian Accords were signed, which put an end to the war in Algeria and led to the independence of this country. Emmanuel Macron will preside over a ceremony tomorrow at the Élysée on the occasion of this anniversary.
Two days before this reception, the Elysée announced on Wednesday that this ceremony was organized for the sake of “appeasement” of memories and “outstretched hand” to Algeria. The presidential palace stresses, however, that “commemorate is not to celebrate”, thus taking care to spare all susceptibilities less than a month from the first round of the presidential election while the date of March 19, 1962, which marked the entry into force of the ceasefire between the French army and the Algerian separatists, continues to cause controversy.
Indeed, the returnees dispute the choice of the date of March 19, 1962 as the marker of the end of the Algerian war (1954-1962), because of the violence which continued until the independence of Algeria on July 5, 1962 and ended with the exodus of hundreds of thousands of them to France.
“All the events related to the war in Algeria did not end overnight with the signing of the Evian Accords”, conceded the Elysée, citing in particular the shooting of the rue d’Isly in Algiersin which dozens of supporters of French Algeria were killed by the army on March 26, 1962.
“March 19 is a stage on this path (from memory) but it is not the end”, insisted the presidency, recalling that a tribute would also be paid to the conscripts of the Algerian war on October 18. if Emmanuel Macron is “re-elected”.
the thorny question of the “apologies” demanded by algiers
The commemoration ceremony of the Évian Accords, which will be held this Saturday from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., will bring together witnesses from all memories linked to the Algerian war, conscripts, independence fighters, harkis and repatriates. Algeria’s ambassador to France, Mohamed-Antar Daoud, was also invited, the Elysee said, without specifying whether he had accepted the invitation.
The Minister of the Armies Florence Parly, the Chief of Staff of the Armies Thierry Burckhard as well as elected officials, including the mayor of Montpellier, Michaël Delafosse, city which will host the future museum of the History of France and Algeria, will also be present.
Relations between Algeria and France are marked by a certain appeasement as the elections approach after two years of tension. Prime Minister Jean Castex could thus pay a visit to Algiers on March 23 and 24, said the Elysée. This, initially scheduled for 2021, had been canceled against the backdrop of bilateral tensions.
The objective of this commemoration, “reconcile” and “appease”, remains the same as during the previous meetings of the quinquennium around the Algerian war, underlined a presidential adviser.
But Algiers, which is demanding an official apology from France for colonization, did not follow up on this work of memory. “It’s a hand that is outstretched and will remain outstretched”, however underlined the Elysée.