“France does not yet seem ready to tackle the restitution issue properly,” declared Fritz Deshommes during his appearance on Panel Magik on Friday, April 11, 2025. He made this statement as, the day before, in the French Senate, the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, indicated that "initiatives will be announced on April 17" by the French President.

For Fritz Deshommes, French President Emmanuel Macron remains deeply committed to the "memory of slavery." However, he analyzed that Mr. Macron, like his predecessors, is not very inclined to address the issue of reparations and restitution. "France has no problem acknowledging that slavery was immoral. But is it ready to return that money autonomously, so that it is not used as development aid, and not managed by NGOs or French agencies?" questioned Mr. Deshommes, who called for vigilance to ensure a concrete restitution of the independence ransom without further complications.