Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said Thursday in an interview with AFP that the presence of French military bases on the territory of his country was incompatible with national sovereignty.
“Senegal is an independent country, it is a sovereign country and sovereignty does not accommodate the presence of (foreign) military bases in a sovereign country,” Mr. Faye said in this interview at the presidential palace.
Sixty-four years after independence, “the French authorities must consider having a partnership stripped of this military presence, but which is a rich partnership, a fruitful partnership, a privileged and global partnership as we have with many other countries.
The president, who took office in April after being elected on the promise of sovereignty and an end to dependence on foreign countries, assured that it was not an act of “rupture” .
“Military presence or military absence should not equal rupture,” he said.
He cited the existence of relations between Senegal and countries like China, Turkey, the United States and Saudi Arabia. “All these countries do not have a military base in Senegal,” he said.
“Today, China is our leading trading partner in terms of the volume of investments and trade. Does China have a military presence in Senegal? No. Are we talking about a breakup? No” , he said.
Mr. Faye mentioned an upcoming update of the military cooperation doctrine.
This update “obviously requires that there be no more military bases of any country in Senegal, but it also imposes other developments in military cooperation with these different countries which still intend to maintain it (cooperation) with Senegal,” he said.
Senegal
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