Emmanuel Macron admits that France could have stopped the genocide in Rwanda

As the 30th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda approaches, French President Emmanuel Macron said France “could have intervened to stop the massacres, but she did not have the will“.

According to comments reported by the Elysée this Thursday, April 4, 2024, President Emmanuel Macron admitted that France could have prevented the genocide in Rwanda alongside its Western and African allies, but that it lacked the will to do so. . This statement comes three days before the 30th anniversary of the start of the massacres that devastated the country in 1994, which cost the lives of between 800,000 and a million people.

Emmanuel Macron, who had already recognized France's responsibility in the genocide in 2021, plans to speak on the subject on Sunday April 7 through a video published on his social networks, according to sources at the Élysée. According to our sources, the boss of France will recall that the international community had the means to know and act when the phase of extermination against the Tutsis began, but that it did not react with firmness necessary.

Although President Macron was invited to the commemorations by Rwandan President Paul Kagame, he will not attend personally. Instead, he will be represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Séjourné, and by the Secretary of State for the Sea, Hervé Berville.

Whatever anyone says, Emmanuel Macron's recognition of France's role in the genocide in Rwanda and his admission that the country could have acted to stop it illustrate an important awareness of past mistakes.