France sends ambassador back to Algeria and commemorates 1945 massacre of Muslim protesters
Return of ambassado accompanied by a minister attending ceremonies at Sétif, marks France's first acknowledgment of colonial-era killings
SÉTIF, Algeria (MNTV) — France took its most significant step toward repairing relations with Algeria on May 8 when Deputy Armed Forces Minister Alice Rufo arrived in the eastern city of Sétif to attend commemorations marking the 81st anniversary of one of the bloodiest episodes of French colonial rule — the 1945 massacre of Muslim Algerian protesters.
She was accompanied by Ambassador Stéphane Romatet, who formally resumed his post after being recalled from Algiers more than a year ago amid a deep diplomatic freeze between the two countries. The Élysée Palace said the visit reflected a determination to address the Franco-Algerian relationship honestly and with respect for all the memories connected to it.
It was the first time a French government minister had attended commemorative events for the Sétif massacre — an acknowledgment of a colonial atrocity that successive French governments have been reluctant to formally recognise.
What happened at Sétif
On May 8, 1945 — the same day Europe celebrated victory over Nazi Germany — Algerians in Sétif took to the streets in a pro-independence rally. French colonial forces responded with overwhelming violence. The crackdown, led by General Raymond Duval, spread across the eastern Algerian cities of Sétif, Guelma, and Kherrata. Algerian historians estimate as many as 45,000 people were killed; French estimates range between 15,000 and 20,000. The massacres are widely regarded as a catalyst for the Algerian War of Independence that began nine years later and ended with Algerian sovereignty in 1962 after 132 years of French rule.
For Algeria, Sétif occupies a place in national memory comparable to what Bloody Sunday represents for Ireland or the Amritsar massacre for India — a moment when the brutality of colonial power was laid bare and the trajectory toward independence became irreversible.
Why relations broke down
The Franco-Algerian relationship has been under strain for years, but the most recent rupture traces to 2024, when Paris formally endorsed Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara. Algeria, which backs the Polisario Front independence movement and considers the territory’s status an existential diplomatic issue, viewed the decision as a betrayal.
The fallout deepened over two separate incidents. In late 2024, French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal was arrested in Algeria and detained for months before being pardoned last November — a case that drew intense media and political attention in France. Separately, in April 2025, an Algerian consular official was charged in France over the alleged abduction of Amir DZ, an Algerian social media influencer and government critic living in France. Ambassador Romatet was recalled shortly afterwards.
Signs of a thaw
Rufo’s visit included talks with Algerian officials on bilateral cooperation and consular relations. It was the second trip to Algeria by a French cabinet minister in less than three months, following Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez’s visit in February. The Élysée framed the ambassador’s return as a commitment to restoring effective dialogue and working on all dimensions of the bilateral relationship in a spirit of reciprocity.
One major obstacle to full normalisation remains: the case of Christophe Gleizes, a 37-year-old French sports journalist arrested in May 2024 while travelling to the Kabylia region of north-eastern Algeria to report on Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie, the country’s most decorated football club.
He was subsequently sentenced to seven years in prison for glorifying terrorism after Algerian authorities accused him of having been in contact with a member of the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie (MAK), a diaspora-based group that Algiers has designated a terrorist organisation.
His family said last week that Gleizes had withdrawn his appeal to Algeria’s highest court — a move widely interpreted as clearing the legal pathway for a presidential pardon, which would require a finalised conviction. Whether that pardon materialises may be the clearest test of whether the diplomatic warming is producing tangible results or merely symbolic gestures.
A contested history, a fragile present
France’s relationship with Algeria is unlike its ties with any other country. It is shaped by 132 years of colonial rule, a war of independence that killed hundreds of thousands, the displacement of over a million pieds-noirs, the unresolved legacy of the Harkis — Algerians who fought for France and were largely abandoned after independence — and the presence today of millions of French citizens of Algerian heritage whose family histories straddle both nations.
Every diplomatic gesture between Paris and Algiers carries the weight of that history. A French minister standing at Sétif on May 8 is not merely a scheduling decision — it is a statement about which parts of the past France is willing to face and which it continues to avoid.
The Élysée’s language about “honesty” and “respecting all memories” suggests a readiness to engage more directly with the colonial record than previous governments have shown.
Whether that rhetoric survives contact with the full range of unresolved disputes between the two countries — from Western Sahara to detained citizens to visa restrictions — remains an open question.
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