Poison in honey, What does Macron's recognition of the "Oran massacre" mean as a crime?

In his latest media appearance, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke of the 1962 Oran massacre as a crime against humanity. In his words, he repeated the wounds of the "Algerian war", in response to the tense relations with El Mouradia Palace, and his exploitation of it in his electoral campaign.

In a speech on Wednesday to associations representing "Black Feet" (French-born Algerians), President Emmanuel Macron said the 1962 Isly Street massacre was a crime "that is unforgivable for the Republic and must be recognized". Like the massacre of July 5 of the same year in Oran.

The common denominator between the two incidents is that their victims were Europeans born in the country. Where, on March 26, 1962, Isli Street in the capital witnessed the French army shooting dozens of supporters of French Algeria, during which 80 of them were killed and 200 wounded. In Oran, more than three months later, the city witnessed clashes between the European and Muslim populations. 90 people were killed, most of them Europeans.

In his speech, Macron stressed that "on that day, French soldiers shot Frenchmen," noting that France, after 60 years, "must recognize this tragedy", which was the main reason for the wave of black feet migration to southern France at the time.

He stressed the need for "reconciliation" over the French colonial past in Algeria, 100 days before the presidential elections in which Macron is rushing to attract the votes of "black feet" and activists, in the face of criticism from his right-wing rivals on this file.

Macron's own intentions

After entering his presidential campaign in 2017, Emmanuel Macron's first foreign visit was to Algiers, where he was keen to spread his photos in the media as he wandered the streets of the former colonial city, stressing his quest to play the chord of the wounded Algerian memory with statements that considered "French colonialism a crime against humanity and true barbarism."

Five years later, and here is Macron resuming his ambition to extend his residence at the Elysee Palace, returning in the same way to the chord of memory, this time through the "black feet" and "harkis" who recently intensified the procedures for their recognition and reparation, while observers read it as "favoritism." elective."

In this context, he met with them on Wednesday, according to the delegation accompanying him, in order to convey a "word of gratitude" to residents "who are not demanding a law or compensation," according to what the daily Le Monde reported, quoting the delegation accompanying the president. While this word of gratitude included considering the shootings in "Esli Street" and the clashes in Oran "unforgivable crimes from the history of the republic."

While this path of favoritism extends for the past months, it began after historian Benjamin Stora presented his report on the “French-Algerian reconciliation” in January 2021. In September of the same year, Macron’s apology on behalf of the republic to the harkis followed him for abandoning the state after the Algeria war. The French Senate approved the apology law on Tuesday in a first reading, in addition to the French government's allocation of 50 million euros from the 2022 budget to pay compensation to these people.

"Electoral generosity" is how the far-right opposition described Macron's actions. Some "black feet" associations also underestimated her, rejecting the president's recent invitation, and placing his retraction of what he said in 2017 about the crimes of French colonialism as a condition .

The electoral bloc of "black feet" and "harkis" represents about 3 million votes, according to analysts. Macron's goal in favoring them is not limited to fortifying a portion of them in his favour, but also by attracting the votes of the Republican right and his extremist counterpart, who use the issue as a trademark of their policies.

What does this mean for the Algerians?

On the other hand, Macron is rushing to advance the Algerian memory file before the elections. In this context, the French government's recent announcement to declassify the "Algerian war" archive comes in a move that came immediately after the French Foreign Minister's visit to the capital in an attempt to calm the escalating tension between the two countries.

Discussions that “did not bring about a major change in relations at the time,” Algerian journalist Mouloud Sayad explains to TRT, given that “at the same time, the Algerian authorities did not completely close the door to the return of normal relations with France, and this highlights, for example, the reservation of some parties in Parliament and in the vicinity of The president is moving towards introducing a law criminalizing colonialism, which may mean complete hostility to France.”

He adds, "While Macron's recent speech about what he called "the Oran massacre" refers us to France's arrogant way of opening the file of colonial memory, and on the other hand, it is clear evidence of the rivalry that has become characterizing the relationship of the two countries, as President Tebboune expressed that more than once. The time for Algeria to succumb to the dictates of Paris is over.

At the conclusion of his statement, Sayyad concludes that "Macron, before making these statements, was certain that the Algerian authorities would not match his position, because these authorities see this as something that does not concern them as long as the French president seeks to open the memory file to collect his narrow personal interests."

An upcoming session of the Security Council on Monday Washington pledges a decisive response in support of Ukraine and Moscow is mobilizing its forces and denying any plans to invade

The White House announced that President Joe Biden stressed during a call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky the readiness of the United States and its allies and partners to respond decisively if Russia invaded Ukraine. While Moscow denied the accusations against it, the Security Council will hold a session next Monday to discuss the crisis.

The White House added that President Biden confirmed the United States' support for efforts to resolve the conflict, according to the Normandy formula.

US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said Russia's rejection of diplomacy over Ukraine would come at a great cost.

Nuland expressed her hope that Moscow would study her country's proposals and return to the negotiating table, stressing her country's readiness for bilateral talks.

Nuland said that if Russia invaded Ukraine, the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline would not go forward.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Russia was massing more combat troops in the west of the country and in Belarus.

In a press conference, Kirby explained that Russia is accumulating its forces at the borders of Ukraine, and its naval forces in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, in addition to the Atlantic Ocean.

Security Council

On Thursday, the United States of America requested an emergency session of the UN Security Council to be held next Monday on Ukraine.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas Greenfield said in a statement that "more than 100,000 Russian soldiers are deployed on the Ukrainian border, and Russia is engaged in other destabilizing activities targeting Ukraine, which constitutes a clear threat to international peace and security and to the Charter of the United Nations."

"As we continue our relentless diplomatic endeavor to defuse tensions in the face of this grave threat to European and global peace and security, members of the Security Council must look at the facts openly," she added.

Monday will be the last day of Norway's presidency of the council, and Tuesday will hand over the task to Russia for the month of February.

A diplomat noted that asking for a meeting next month, with the Russian presidency of the council, would have been more complicated for the United States.

Washington had indicated in mid-January that it did not intend to resort to the Security Council until after a military intervention in Ukraine, as happened in the case of the Crimea.

But Ambassador Greenfield said in her statement Thursday, "Now is not the time to wait and see. The full attention of the Council is now required."

Gas war

And the Wall Street Journal reported that in recent days, US officials had held lengthy talks with officials around the world, in an attempt to persuade gas buyers in South Korea, Japan and other countries to allow the United States to reroute gas shipments from Qatar and Azerbaijan to Europe.

Efforts have intensified in recent weeks, as Moscow's escalation with Kiev has left European governments contemplating a previously unimaginable scenario for a conflict that would cut off gas flows from Russia, which supplies about 40 percent of the natural gas to the 27-nation bloc.

Cautious calm

Meanwhile, the areas near the line of contact separating the pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian forces in the Donbass region are in a state of anticipation due to the continuous escalation between the two sides in the region.

Despite the calm witnessed by the fronts during the past two days, the separatists accuse Ukraine of continuing to mobilize its forces towards the lines of contact, and do not rule out the possibility of Kiev launching a military operation against them.

On the other hand, a report by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry stated that the Donbass front has remained calm during the last hours.

This came days after the violations witnessed by the pro-Russian separatists in the front, which resulted in casualties among the Ukrainian army, according to Kiev's account.

Al-Jazeera correspondent in Ankara stated that the Turkish National Security Council called on the various parties to the crisis to reduce tension and resort to rationality.

In a statement issued after a council meeting chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ankara said that increasing tension would not be in the interest of any party.

Russia's position

Russia rejects the accusations about the movements of its forces inside its territory and denies the existence of any aggressive plans it has towards Ukraine.

She expressed her lack of optimism that the United States will meet its broad security demands in order to defuse the Ukrainian crisis.

On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the United States had not responded "decisively" to all provisions of the security guarantees proposals.

Lavrov added to reporters that the US response includes positions that allow the start of a serious dialogue on secondary issues, but he stressed that there is no positive response from Washington to the main issue in the Russian proposals, which is the issue of the non-expansion of NATO towards the east and the deployment of offensive weapons that could threaten Russian lands.

The United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) yesterday evening delivered their responses to Russia regarding security guarantees.

The Russian minister stressed that his country will send an inquiry to Washington and Western countries about the reasons for ignoring its commitments related to the indivisibility of security, pointing out that "the content of the American response to our proposals regarding security guarantees will soon be published in the public."

Lavrov said that President Vladimir Putin will take a decision on the next steps after studying and agreeing with the relevant ministries regarding the Western response to the Russian proposals related to security guarantees requested by Moscow.

And the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, said that his country had submitted its written response to Russia regarding the security guarantees demanded by Moscow, and that his country would not publish the response publicly because it needed to open a space for diplomacy, as he described it.