President Emmanuel Macron poses with Chadian President General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno
The government of Chad has decided to terminate the defense cooperation agreement signed with France, the Chadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Thursday.
After 66 years of independence, Chad wishes to assert its full sovereignty, it was said in a press release.
The end of the defense cooperation agreement, which was revised in 2019, will allow Chad to redefine its strategic partnerships, the press release specifies.
While it had closely cooperated with Western armies, Chad has moved closer to Russia in recent years.
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have ceased their military cooperation with France, which was present in these countries as part of the fight against jihadist groups in the Sahel. They turned to Russia for security support.
“Chad, in accordance with the provisions of the agreement, undertakes to respect the terms provided for its termination, including the notice period, and to collaborate with the French authorities in order to ensure a harmonious transition,” indicates the press release. .
The “historical relations” and the “ties of friendship” between France and Chad are in no way called into question by the decision taken by the Chadian government, it is specified.
The French Foreign Ministry was not immediately available to respond to a request for comment.
Jean-Noël Barrot, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, visited Chad on Thursday.
Nothing shows that Paris was informed of the decision before its announcement.
A French envoy to President Emmanuel Macron delivered a report this week detailing proposals for how France could reduce its military presence in Chad, Gabon and Ivory Coast.
This decision should lead to the withdrawal of some 1,000 French soldiers currently deployed in Chad.
SENEGAL CONSIDERS A WITHDRAWAL OF FRENCH SOLDIERS
The Senegalese President, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, for his part estimated Thursday in an interview with Le Monde that the relationship with France needed to be rebalanced, and that the maintenance of French soldiers in Senegal did not correspond to “our conception of sovereignty and independence.”
Bassirou Diomaye Faye declared that the withdrawal of French soldiers from Senegal was “obvious”, specifying however that he had not set a deadline “for the moment”.
“We have cooperation with the United States, China and even Turkey without these countries having a base on our soil. Our relations nevertheless remain in good shape. Is France capable of doing this? This “It's not because the French have been there since the period of slavery that it is impossible to do otherwise,” he said.
The Senegalese president did not rule out working with Russia, believing that Dakar and Moscow “had historic cooperation”.
“Why must we choose one or the other and not one or the other? (…) Today, we want to work with all those who can invest and contribute to creating wealth in Senegal. Which is why we What matters is that they respect our sovereignty and our social standards,” explained Bassirou Diomaye Faye.
(Mahamat Ramadane, with John Irish in Paris, written by Jessica Donati and Bate Felix; French version Camille Raynaud)
