President Emmanuel Macron attended the event held on the date, but did not say a word.

Former Justice Minister and former Deputy Christiane Taubira in statements to local media was surprised by president’s silence and considered it strange that he had nothing to say about slavery presence in French history. In her reaction, she questioned that Macron did issue comments on bicentennial of Napoleon Bonaparte´s birth a few days ago.

On the other hand, La Francia Insoumisa Party Leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon tweeted his vision of Macron´s silence, while historian François Durpaire said the president´s silence might be linked to April 2022´s presidential elections.

ef/pll/jcm/wmr