France recognizes its responsibility in the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi ethnic minority in Rwanda. This was stated by the president, Emmanuel Macron, on a visit to Kigali to commemorate the victims of the genocide and to finally turn the page after a quarter of a century of tensions.
“I come here to acknowledge our responsibilities,” Macron said during his speech at the Genocide Memorial in Kigali.
France, Macron declared during his speech of about 20 minutes at the Kigali Memorial, “did not become an accomplice but for too long had silence prevail over the examination of the truth”.
Macron’s trip to Rwanda aims to be the final stage in the “normalization of relations with France”, after more than 25 years of tensions linked to the role played by Paris in this terrible tragedy.
“” This path of recognition, through our debts, our gifts, offers us the hope of getting out of this night and walking together again. On this path – continued Macron – only those who have crossed the night can, perhaps, forgive, give us the gift of forgiving ourselves ».