French soldiers, on a base in Chad, in 2022.
AFP
Chad, the last Sahelian country to host French forces, announced Thursday evening that it was ending security and defense agreements with Paris, an announcement that came a few hours after a visit by the head of French diplomacy Jean-Noël Barrot.
“The government of the Republic of Chad informs national and international opinion of its decision to terminate the defense cooperation agreement signed with the French Republic,” Chadian Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah said on the ministry Facebook page.
Chad is a key link in the French military presence in Africa, constituting Paris’ last foothold in the Sahel after the forced withdrawals of its troops in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
“France is an essential partner but it must also now consider that Chad has grown, has matured and that Chad is a sovereign state and very jealous of its sovereignty,” noted Abderaman Koulamallah a little earlier at the end of a meeting between President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno and Jean-Noël Barrot. The latter, who arrived in Ethiopia on Thursday evening, was not immediately available to react to this information, nor was the French Ministry of the Armed Forces.
“It’s not a breakup”
Last May, three years of transition ended in N’Djamena with the election of Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, brought to power by a military junta after the death of his father Idriss Déby killed by rebels at the front.
Threatened by rebel offensives, Déby senior was able to count on the support of the French army to repel them in 2008 and then in 2019. “It is not a break with France like Niger or elsewhere,” said assured AFP Abderaman Koulamallah, reached by telephone, whose country still hosts around a thousand French soldiers.
“Chad, in accordance with the provisions of the agreement, undertakes to respect the terms provided for its termination, including the notice period,” specifies the ministerial press release, which does not mention a date for withdrawal of French troops.
This announcement comes as Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye also indicated Thursday in an interview with AFP that France would have to close its military bases in Senegal, also invoking the argument of sovereignty.
“Historical turning point”
In Chad, the decision was “taken after an in-depth analysis” and marks a “historic turning point”, underlined Abderaman Koulamallah in his press release.
“After 66 years of the proclamation of the Republic of Chad, it is time for Chad to assert its full sovereignty, and to redefine its strategic partnerships according to national priorities,” he added, assuring that the Jean-Noël Barrot’s visit also made it possible to strengthen bilateral relations “at all levels”.
On Monday, Emmanuel Macron’s personal envoy to Africa, Jean-Marie Bockel, submitted to the French president his report on the reconfiguration of the French military system in Africa, which advocates a “renewed” and “co-constructed” partnership, according to the Elysium.
