French President Francois Hollande on 20 December acknowledged the “unjust” and “brutal” nature of France’s occupation of Algeria for 132 years, but stopped short of apologising for the past as many Algerians have demanded. On the second day of his state visit to this North African nation, he told the two houses of parliament that “I recognize the suffering the colonial system has inflicted” on the Algerian people.
He specifically recognised the “massacres” by the French during the seven-year war that led to Algerian independence in 1962. The admission was a profound departure from Hollande’s predecessors who, if not defending France’s tormented past with Algeria, remained silent. The Socialist president’s visit came as Algeria celebrates 50 years of independence from France, during which the two countries’ ties have been fraught with tension.