Rwanda’s Kagame says relations are on the mend with France

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Rwanda's President Paul Kagame as he arrives to attend the International Conference in support of Sudan at the Temporary Grand Palais in Paris, France, May 17, 2021. [Reuters]

France’s acceptance in a report this year that it bore a responsibility for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda marked a “big step forward” in repairing relations between the two countries, Rwandan President Paul Kagame said on Monday.

A commission established by President Emmanuel Macron concluded in March that France had been blinded by its colonial attitude to events leading up to the genocide and bore "serious and overwhelming" responsibility. However, the nearly 1,000-page report absolved France of complicity in the killings.