Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune rejects the idea of a visit to France. He announced it on Saturday, October 5, during a television interview, while his visit to France continues to be postponed. Relations between the two countries are once again very tense. President Tebboune also accused France of having committed “genocide” during colonization.
1 min
“ I will not go to Canossa “, launched the Algerian president on Saturday evening, an expression which means begging for forgiveness.
THE President Tebboune considered a visit to France humiliating, in a context of once again very tense relations.
“ I do not accept lies about Algeria. There was genocide “, he insisted during his television interview, accusing a “ hateful minority » in France to block any progress on the memorial file.
The Algerian colonial past – and in particular that of the Algerian War – continues to weigh on Franco-Algerian relations, despite the establishment, two years ago, of a commission of historians from both country to try to end this diplomatic crisis.
Also readAlgeria: the mixed commission of historians on colonization agrees on several points
On Saturday evening, the Algerian president also returned to the question of French nuclear tests in Algeria in the 1960s: “ If you want to be friends “, he said, “ come clean up the nuclear test sites. »
For a year and a half, the Algerian president’s visit to France has continued to be postponed. The last one was planned for the end of September, beginning of October, but the announcement last July of Paris’ support for the Moroccan autonomy plan on the question of Western Sahara contributed to a further deterioration of relations between the two countries.
Also readWestern Sahara: Algiers withdraws its ambassador after reinforced support from Paris for the Moroccan position