AA / Paris / Ümit Dönmez
The spokesperson for the Quai d’Orsay, Christophe Lemoine, responded this Friday, November 29 to questions concerning recent announcements from Chad and Senegal on their military partnerships with France.
Regarding Chad’s decision to end its defense cooperation agreement, Christophe Lemoine declared: “France takes note of this and intends to continue the dialogue for the implementation of these guidelines. »
This position comes after a press release from the Chadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which expressed the wish to redefine strategic relations between the two countries.
Asked about the closure of French military bases in Senegal, announced by Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, the spokesperson for the Quai d’Orsay replied: “We have taken note of the declarations of the President of Senegal in various media in recent days. »
– French presence in Senegal
As a reminder, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye indicated, Thursday, November 28 in a series of interviews with French media, that France will have to close its military bases in Senegal, the presence of which is incompatible, according to him, with Senegalese sovereignty.
“Senegal is an independent country, it is a sovereign country and sovereignty does not accommodate the presence of military bases in a sovereign country,” Bassirou Diomaye Faye said from the presidential palace in Dakar.
The Senegalese leader insisted on the fact that “France enslaved, colonized, and remained there. If you reverse the roles, you will find it very difficult to imagine that another army could have a military base in France.”
Some 350 French soldiers are present in Senegal. The report by Jean-Marie Bockel, personal envoy of French President Emmanuel Macron for the reconfiguration of the French military system in Africa, recommends their reduction to around a hundred.
– French presence in Chad
Chad announced on Thursday the termination of the defense agreement concluded with France. “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, revised on September 5, 2019, aimed at strengthening cooperation in matters of security and defense between the two nations,” indicates a press release from the Chadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abderaman Koulamallah.
The Chadian government made this announcement just hours after the departure of French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot from N’Djamena where he was on a 24-hour visit.
– Reduction of the French military presence in French-speaking Africa
Losing influence on the African continent, after successive coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Gabon, and recurring tensions with Algeria, France has decided to sharply reduce its military presence in Africa.
At the beginning of the summer, two sources close to the French executive and a military source indicated to local media that the intention was to keep around a hundred soldiers in Gabon (compared to 350 then), as many in Senegal (compared to 350 ) and Ivory Coast (previously 600) as well as some 300 in Chad (compared to 1,000).
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