France’s Macron heads to Rwanda to reset relations

President’s visit to Kigali aimed at turning page from decades of diplomatic friction over France’s role in the 1994 genocide.

French President Emmanuel Macron has travelled to Rwanda for a highly symbolic visit aimed at repairing relations between the two countries after decades of Rwandan accusations that France was complicit in the 1994 genocide. Macron arrived in the capital, Kigali, early on Thursday and is due to hold talks with Rwandan President Paul Kagame. But the most anticipated part of his speech will come when Macron gives a speech at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, where some 250,000 victims of the massacres are buried. Some in Rwanda will be hoping for an official apology that France failed to help stop the 100-day killing spree against 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.