In a simultaneous move, Berlin admitted that its soldiers committed genocide in Namibia during German colonialism at the end of the nineteenth century, as well as Paris indicated its responsibility in the civil war in Rwanda and the ethnic cleansing suffered by the Tutsi minority.
These two steps have revived the controversy over the feasibility of an apology when it comes to deep wounds in the memory of peoples whose countries were just a chessboard in the vicinity of international powers.
The German recognition by Foreign Minister Heiko Maas was accompanied by an apology, with a promise to contribute to development of more than one billion euros, after more than a century of atrocities and killings against the people of Herero Nama, which killed tens of thousands, according to identical sources.
As for France, it did not offer an admission or apology. Rather, French President Emmanuel Macron referred to his country’s responsibility in the genocide against the Tutsi minority in Rwanda, trying to wipe out the estrangement with the African country after a diplomatic quarrel.