In the May 3, 2017 Presidential debate Marine Le Pen accused Emmanuel Marcon of propagating hatred by calling France’s colonization of Algeria “a crime against humanity.” Marcon made the comment to a newspaper during a visit to Algiers in February 2017. In recent years France has taken steps to smooth relations with Algeria. 1.5m people were killed during the Algerian war of independence which ended in 1962. French government officials have acknowledge France’s poor treatment of Algerians during the war but have stopped short of apologizing.
