On the eve of a new trip to the continent, the French president assured having laid the foundations “of another path” in Franco-African relations while recognizing: “We are only in the middle of ford. “
by Christophe Châtelot and Elise Vincent
After months of procrastination and consultations, Emmanuel Macron finally announced, on Monday, February 27, a new drop in French military staff deployed on the African continent. A drop which should be implemented gradually by the end of the year. It comes only six months after the withdrawal of the last soldiers from Mali and Burkina Faso ringing the end of the “Barkhane” operation.
The President of the Republic has not given specific figures on this reduction in staff, but this movement “will be visible”, ensures a military source. Above all, it should concern the bases of Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Gabon, where France has 1,700 troops. The Head of State has indeed assured that Djibouti -the greater French base abroad with some 1,500 men -would not be concerned, this being an essential relay for forces projections to Indo- Peaceful he intends to accentuate.
Beyond the symbolic force of a decrease in staff, Emmanuel Macron insisted on an evolution of the status of French rights of way in Africa. “There will be no more military bases as such,” he said. From now on these bases will be “co-stored” with partner countries, he said.
The long -term challenge is to manage to erase the term “French bases” of the semantic landscape, in order to continue the erasure of what France considers to have become one of the main catalysts of anti -French feeling in countries where she still has a foot and she dreads to lose above all. “It earns us today to be the object by amalgamation of rejection which strikes a Malian political class which has failed to straighten its country and it is this trap which could, if we do not be careful, reproduce Elsewhere “, explains the head of state.
” renewal “of military cooperation
No base should therefore be closed, even if this option has been seriously studied, especially for budgetary questions, at a time when the armies are struggling to complete their future military programming law.
Emmanuel Macron preferred the narrow path of “desilhouettage”. This work should in particular go through changes of names or status of these holdings, generally governed by the defense agreements signed with each country. The creation of military “academies” has been one of the germ ideas for long months, especially in Côte d’Ivoire. These bases will not be closed, but they will be transformed. “They will become for some of the academies, for the others, partnership bases. They will be renamed for some. They will change their physiognomy, logic, imprint”, detailed the President of the Republic.
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