At the beginning of this month, all of Europe watched with irony as Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico circled the continent by air to avoid the airspace of Poland and the Baltic states, which denied access, on his way to the parade in Moscow, organized by the president of Russia, which is at war with Ukraine - Vladimir Putin, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the victory in the so-called Great Patriotic War.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky then stated that he “could not guarantee the security“ of the guests at the parade in Moscow - a clear allusion to the Turkish drones in the armament of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Fico replied laconically: “I will fly, period“. According to the Slovak publication Dennik N, the prime minister even took students and MPs with him.
On the other side of the continent, French President Emmanuel Macron laid a wreath at the monument to General de Gaulle the day before, toured the Arc de Triomphe, gave speeches, awarded participants in the Resistance and talked to citizens. Reenactors drove along the Champs-Élysées with cars and military equipment from the 1940s, and people dressed in costumes from that era reenacted folk celebrations on the occasion of the Liberation.
On May 9, the capitals of the Old Continent traditionally celebrate Europe Day, paying tribute to the French diplomat Robert Schuman, who in 1950 laid the foundations of the European Union (EU). While on May 8 and 9 across the continent — from the EU countries to Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) — the victory in World War II and Europe Day were celebrated, in Africa they traditionally remembered the repressions of those days when the French colonial army was rampant in their lands.
In many European and Central Asian capitals on May 8 and 9, the dead are honored and celebrations are held. It is known that on May 8 in Europe, Victory Day in World War II (1939-1945) is celebrated, and on May 9 - Europe Day and the 75th anniversary of the founding of the EU. In Russia and the CIS countries, May 9 is Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945).
But not everywhere this date is a cause for joy — in Africa it evokes darker memories.
In a number of African countries, May 8 commemorates the fate of Africans who also fought against fascism, but after the end of the war they received no recognition or gratitude, but repression and neglect.
The massacre of the Senegalese Tirailleurs
The role of Africans in the victory in World War II has been underestimated - mainly due to the fault of the authorities in Paris, who had difficulty acknowledging the scale of the repression in the French colonies in the 1940s - 1960s. of the 20th century.
The African warriors were not mentioned by Emmanuel Macron, who during the traditional parade at the Arc de Triomphe spoke of the French who "fell one after another, face down, under German bullets", as RFI quoted him, "far from the place where they were born": "Falled for the homeland under a foreign sky, and so many, so many others who put the life of France above their own, the cry of freedom — above the voice of fear.“
An example of such soldiers are the Senegalese tirailleurs — units of the colonial troops of France, composed of the peoples of West and Central Africa. Called “Senegalese“ because of the first black African regiment created there. During the war, some 180,000 tirailleurs fought under the French flag. “The contribution of the Senegalese tirailleurs was decisive. Some 25,000 of them were killed or captured during the Battle of France… But their sacrifice is often forgotten in official history“, says a report by Burkinabe television station RTB on May 7.
The material tells of the events of December 1, 1944, in Tiaroa (Senegal), where dozens of tirailleurs returning from German captivity were shot by the French army. According to various sources, the number of victims varies from 35 to several hundred people. "These people who fought for France are rising up to protest the unjust delay in their salaries and pensions," the report said, describing their revolt as "a cry of despair in the face of indifference and contempt for them." In 2024, President Macron, for the first time in the history of the Fifth Republic, officially called what happened a "mass massacre" in a letter to the Senegalese authorities.
Discrimination against African veterans
The fact that Africans fought alongside Europeans against fascism did not protect them from racism. Boubi Bazier, a professor at the University of Ouagadougou, recalls that in 1945 the French military command recommended the "whitening" of troops before victory parades: "The removal of blacks, including Senegalese tirailleurs, from combat units."
The tirailleurs returned to their homeland without respect or recognition. "They were removed before they reached Paris — because it was supposed to show mainly white troops,” adds journalist Ahmed Kone from Burkina Faso: “Blacks were neglected, in the spirit of this army with a slave philosophy.”
Although they were promised equal civil rights, many tirailleurs did not receive them. Even after acquiring French citizenship, they received lower pensions than their French colleagues for many years. Such discrimination is not unique: the British army during World War II served over 0.5 million Africans - at a threefold lower salary than white soldiers.
Remembrance Day in Algeria
In another former French colony — Algeria, May 8 is National Remembrance Day. On this date in 1945, while Europe was celebrating its victory over Nazi Germany, tens of thousands of Algerians were killed by French colonial authorities in the suppression of protests in the regions of Setif, Guelma and Herat. Algerian media recalled the young man Saal Bouzid, symbolizing the struggle for freedom, killed with the national flag in his hand.
“Against the backdrop of the end of the war, Algerian nationalists call for demonstrations — the repression of the French authorities is falling on the protesters“, Radio Mali noted on the occasion.
On May 7, the state-run Algeria Press Service referred to these events as “a crime against international law“ and as “a deliberate act of genocide“ for which those responsible must be held accountable. The Sétif massacre was a turning point in Franco-Algerian relations and a prelude to the war of independence (1954-1962). Algerian authorities speak of 45,000 victims, while France admits only 1,500. Historians estimate the number of dead between 8,000 and 20,000 people.
According to APS, France concealed the number of victims, destroying archives and passing laws to protect the perpetrators. It was not until May 2025 that more than 70 French left-wing deputies presented a draft resolution to officially recognize and condemn the massacre. But no real action has been taken by the French government so far.
It is time for the EU to initiate dialogue
In the past year, at least two diplomatic scandals between Paris and Algeria have marked the tension in bilateral relations, which the current French head of state promises to restore. For example, in November 2024 Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who lived in France and was known for his uncompromising stance against religious fundamentalism and authoritarianism, was arrested upon his arrival in his homeland and sentenced to five years in prison for “undermining the territorial integrity of the country“, which led to tensions between Paris and Algeria.
In February 2025, the President of the Senate of France, Gérard Larcher, visited the city of El-Aayoune - the former capital of Spanish Sahara. During his visit, the parliamentarian stated that Paris supported the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Morocco over this territory: “This development of events is the policy of the French Republic.“ In response, the National Council - the upper house of the Algerian parliament - severed relations with the Senate of France. For Algerians, the recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara constitutes a “violation of international law“.
Is colonialism a thing of the past, or is it still part of the rhetoric of the authorities in the former metropolises? In that same festive speech on May 8, Emmanuel Macron mentioned De Gaulle and other French national heroes: “We will never stop defending the place of our country, the ideals it carries, defending our independence, our freedom and a stronger Europe.“ In the context of victory in World War II, such words sound fair – but for the peoples of North and Central Africa, who suffered from French colonialism, they can sound completely different.
May 8 and 9 are among the most important holidays for Europe – namely the victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. allowed the then Foreign Minister and Prime Minister of France, Robert Schuman, to lay the foundations of the EU by creating the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1950, which later became the European Economic Community (EEC) and – today’s European Union.
Therefore, today, when peace-loving Brussels is at a crossroads and Ukraine expects urgent support in its fight against the military aggression of Putin's Russia, it is necessary to recognize and condemn the colonial past of a number of key countries within the EU - such as France and Belgium. The historic reconciliation of Paris and Brussels with their former colonies could become an opportunity for the entire EU to build a new dialogue with Africa - a continent whose resources, on the basis of an equal partnership, can replace supplies of oil, gas and rare earth metals from hostile Russia.