France’s Policy Towards South Africa During the Transitional Period

Abstract

There is a square in Paris, opposite the Eiffel Tower, called the Piazza of Human Rights. On a rainy evening in June 1990, President Mitterrand welcomed Nelson Mandela there. They listened to classical and African music and said a few words. The ceremony heralded a new era between France and South Africa. What had been an uneasy, ambiguous and low-profile relationship could from now on become clear, warm and intensified. A handshake between two heads of state in June 1994 officially launched normalized relations between the two countries.