00:00 Well, let's cross straight to Kigali now, get some reaction from there. Clément de
00:04 Roma is our correspondent and he's with me now. Clément, let's talk about the timing
00:09 of this statement by Macron. First of all, your thoughts on that.
00:13 Well, France had never gone so far in admitting its military and diplomatic mistakes during
00:20 the genocide and it comes just before the 30th commemorations of the genocide against
00:24 the Tutsis that will take place on Sunday and last for 100 years. Of course, I just
00:30 said it, France never gone that far into admitting its mistakes. We remember the military operation
00:36 Turquoise in 1994, criticized here in Rwanda, accused of allowing the perpetrators to escape
00:42 and doing too little too late to save the lives of Tutsis threatened by Hutu militias.
00:48 Paris was also backing the genocidal regime before 1994 and kept on supporting them during
00:53 the massacres. So relations between Paris and Kigali had been very poor since the genocide,
00:58 but they have improved in recent years after 25 years of tensions. Emmanuel Macron acknowledged
01:03 in 2021 France's heavy and overwhelming responsibilities in the massacres following a report of a commission
01:10 of historians and he recognized the errors of former President François Mitterrand and
01:16 his government in 1994, but without ever apologizing.
01:21 You say relations between Paris and Kigali have improved in recent years. So were these
01:26 comments by Macron today expected or are they still a real surprise?
01:31 Well, these comments, as I said, are still a real surprise, even though Paris has become
01:38 an important partner of Rwanda. Relations used to be quite poor, but now France considers
01:45 Kigali as a strong ally on the African continent. The French Development Agency, for example,
01:50 is present in the country, has committed over 330 million euros to various programs. Military
01:56 cooperation between Paris and Kigali also continues now, and 40 French companies are
02:01 now established in the country. We know that a regular air link has been opened by Wander,
02:07 the local airline here, which serves Paris now. And finally, we are also expecting the
02:12 French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Séjourné, with a delegation here this Sunday
02:16 to attend the 30th commemorations of the genocide against the Tutsis with Rwandan President
02:21 Paul Kagame. He will represent French President Macron, who isn't making the trip. And Séjourné
02:26 will sit next to delegations flying from the entire world, including next to Bill Clinton,
02:31 that used to be president of the US when the genocide happened and who acknowledged the
02:36 responsibility of the US in the genocide as early as 1998.
02:42 Clement Di Roma for us there in Kigali. Thank you very much indeed for your thoughts there.
02:46 As we react to that news that President Macron of France has said that this country could
02:53 have stopped the genocide in 1994, but did not have the will to do so.
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