In the letter, the French leader expressed “his best wishes to the Algerian people and his desire that the already strong ties between France and Algeria continue to be strengthened,” presidency sources said, and “reiterated his commitment to pursue his approach of recognizing the truth and reconciling the memory of the Algerian and French peoples,” they added.

In addition, and on the occasion of the date, a wreath will be laid in his name at the National Memorial of the Algerian War and the Struggle in Morocco and Tunisia, on the Quai Branly in Paris, in tribute to the victims of the massacre of Europeans in Oran.

On July 5, 1962, Algeria declared its independence after 132 years of French colonization and a bloody war of liberation lasting nearly eight years, and on the same day a shootout took place in Oran in which, according to Macron, “hundreds of Europeans, mainly French” were killed.

Following the publication of the report by French historian Benjamin Stora in January 2021, Macron pledged “symbolic acts” to try to reconcile the two countries, but excluded “repentance” and “apologies”, a statement that was met with displeasure by Algiers.

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