Macron Acknowledges French Responsibility in Rwanda Genocide
- Part of Macron’s wider effort to renew French-Africa relations
- Macron, Rwandan President Kagame hold joint press briefing
Emmanuel Macron welcomes Paul Kagame at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on May 17.
Photographer: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images
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President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged France’s “responsibilities” in the 1994 Rwanda genocide while denying his country was an “accomplice” in the events that left 800,000 people dead, in a bid to end years of strained relations.
“As I stand with you today, with humility and respect, I recognize the magnitude of our responsibilities,” Macron said Thursday in Kigali, where he’s meeting with Rwandan President Paul Kagame. France is recognizing “the suffering it has inflicted on the Rwandan people by allowing silence to prevail for too long,” he said.