Algerian army chief urges moving beyond colonial past with France ‘without forgetting it’

Algerian Army Chief Gen. Said Chengriha urged Algeria and France on Saturday to build relations beyond the legacy of French colonialism while preserving the memory of the past.

Speaking during a meeting with French Delegate Minister for Veterans and Memory Affairs Patricia Miralles, Chengriha said the two countries should work together to move past “the painful colonial legacy without forgetting it,” according to a statement by the Defense Ministry.

The meeting coincided with Algeria’s commemoration of the National Memory Day, marking the May 8, 1945, massacres under French colonial rule.

Chengriha described the massacres as a defining moment in Algeria’s struggle for independence and said Algerians who sacrificed during World War II had every right to demand “a sovereign and independent state.”

He also encouraged relations between Algiers and Paris to move toward a future based on mutual respect and shared interests amid rapidly changing regional and international conditions.

Earlier Saturday, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune received Miralles, who delivered a written message from French President Emmanuel Macron.

Miralles arrived Friday in Algeria, accompanied by French Ambassador Stephane Romatet, who returned to his post after leaving the country in April 2025 during a diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

French colonial forces carried out the massacres in the eastern Algerian cities of Setif, Guelma and Kherrata, killing an estimated 45,000 people, according to official Algerian figures, after Algerians staged demonstrations demanding independence.

In April, Algeria’s parliament approved legislation criminalizing French colonialism between 1830 and 1962, although the final text dropped demands for an official French apology and compensation.