Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye called for the departure of the last French soldiers present in Dakar. He insists, however, on the aspect of the renewed partnership.
A new era is dawning in Senegal. The new government, which came to power in the spring, wants the final departure of the last French armed forces stationed in the country. Indeed, in an interview with Le Monde on Thursday, November 28, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye called on France to close its military bases in Senegal. He believes that “this does not correspond to our conception of sovereignty and independence“.
The Senegalese president affirms that it was not an act of rupture and defends a renewed partnership with France. “For now“, Bassirou Diomaye Faye has not yet set a departure deadline for the 350 soldiers present in West Africa. They are grouped under the name of French elements in Senegal (EFS).
Counterexamples
Sixty-four years after independence, Senegal is calling for a new type of relationship with France, like its other partnerships. “We have cooperation with the United States, China and even Turkey without these countries having a base on our soil. (…) Is France capable of doing this? It is not because the French have been there since the period of slavery that it is impossible to do otherwise.“, judges the Senegalese president. Bassirou Diomaye Faye nevertheless reassured that relations with France “stay in good shape“.
published on November 29 at 10:36 a.m., Hibat Benhalima, 6Medias
Share
France
