“We made them here because it was further away, because it was a distant place in the middle of the Pacific,” said the president, who visited the archipelago for the first time and promised a 300m-euro loan.
French President Emmanuel Macron solemnly acknowledged during a visit to the Haitian capital, Papeete, in French Polynesia, that France owed money to French overseas territory over nuclear tests between 1966 and 1996, AFP reported. quoted by BTA.
“I acknowledge this and want truth and transparency with you,” the head of state said during a meeting with representatives of French Polynesia on the last day of his four-day visit.
This is Macron’s first visit to this archipelago.
The president acknowledged that the delicate issue of nuclear tests undermined trust between Paris and Papeete. He said victims of nuclear tests, including some cancer sufferers, would have to be better compensated.
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“The nation has a debt to French Polynesia,” Macron said of the nuclear tests, especially between 1966 and 1974.
After conducting 17 nuclear tests in the Sahara, France transferred its experiments in French Polynesia in 1966 to the Murrayuroa and Fangatafoa atolls. In 30 years, it has conducted 193 nuclear tests there. The latter was on January 27, 1996, following the decision of then-French President Jacques Chirac to resume these experiments despite a moratorium imposed three years earlier by his predecessor, Francois Mitterrand.
“I want to make it clear that the military who carried out these attempts did not lie to you. They were exposed to the same risks,” Macron said.
“But I think it is true that we would not have made these same attempts in the departments of Creuse or in Brittany. (in mainland France). We made them here because it was further away, because it was a distant place in the middle of the Pacific, “he added.
However, Macron defended the choice of General De Gaulle, followed by his successors, to give France nuclear weapons, in particular to defend French Polynesia.
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Local women greeted Macron
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In his speech, Macron did not utter the word “apology”, which was demanded by associations of victims of nuclear tests. According to representatives of these associations, there is no progress in Macron’s statements, only demagoguery.
The French president has promised that the archives on nuclear tests will be opened, except for the most confidential military data.
These promises are coming five years after the recognition by President Francois Hollande during a visit to French Polynesia the environmental and health impacts of nuclear tests performed over 30 years. He then undertook a series of commitments, some of which have not yet materialized, such as the opening of a center to tell all about the nuclear tests and their impact.
Otherwise, economically in Papeete Macron promised a loan of 300 million euros support for investors, in particular for the development of Air Tahiti New, as well as new defiscalisation measures. He recalled that Paris spends more than 1.5 billion euros a year on French Polynesia and said more than 600m euros had been used to tackle the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Macron also called on Polynesians to be vaccinated.
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