President Paul Kagame(L) and his French Counterpart Emmanuel Macron this week in Paris
French President Emmanuel Macron has confirmed that he is planning his first visit to Rwanda towards the end of this month.
“I confirm I am going to Rwanda at the end of the month. The visit will be one of politics and remembrance but also economic,” Macron said at the end of the International Conference on Sudan and the Summit on Financing African Economies.
The 2-day conference was also attended by Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame.
Several reports confirmed the undeniable responsibility of France in the 1994 Genocide committed against Tutsi, but France has never come out to apologize for its role.
Macron who will become the second President of France to visit Rwanda in 27 years(After Nicolas Sarkozy) was asked whether this is the right time to apologize, but he said it was not the right time to answer the question.
However, Macron confirmed that during a sideline meeting with Kagame on Monday, both officials committed to “to write a new page in relations”.
Last month, a report that was commissioned by Macron on the role of France in the Genocide was launched and later on, authors submitted it to Rwanda.
The report “France, Rwanda and the Genocide Against the Tutsi” by French Historian Vincent Duclert’s commission indicated that indicate that President Francois Mitterrand’s government was aware of what was going in Rwanda but there was no effort to stop the planning and execution of the genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi.
Last month, Rwanda also launched a report on the role of France in the Genocide committed against Tutsi.
The findings also indicated that French government under President Francois Mitterrand “bears significant responsibility” in Rwanda, not only in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, but also the period that preceded it and in the post-Genocide period.
The report, which is a result of extensive research and investigation by U.S-based law firm Levy Firestone Muse, was commissioned by the Rwandan government in 2017, with the purpose of establishing a clear understanding of the involvement of the French Government in Rwanda in the period from October 1990 and the post-Genocide period.
The two reports follow several others that also confirmed these facts.
