Paris has lost almost all of its footholds on the continent, Thierry Mariani has said
Chad’s termination of a military agreement with France and Senegal’s impending expulsion of French troops is a “catastrophe” for President Emmanuel Macron’s foreign policy, Thierry Mariani, a member of the European Parliament, has said in an interview with RIA Novosti on Monday.
Mariani stated that Paris has lost almost all of its footholds in Africa during the seven years of “illusory influencer” Macron’s presidency.
“No one has done as much damage in the last 40 years as Macron. If he wants to do France a favor, he should resign as soon as possible”, the French politician said.
Last week, Chadian Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah announced the Central African nation’s decision to cancel a defense cooperation treaty signed with France in 2019. The decision came just hours after Koulamallah met with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot in the landlocked state’s capital, N’Djamena.
On Sunday, Chad’s president, Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, told reporters that the agreement, which had sought to strengthen security ties between the two countries, had become “completely obsolete.”
“It no longer corresponded to the security, geopolitical, and strategic realities of our time, nor to our legitimate expectations regarding the full expression of our sovereignty,” Mahamat Deby said in a speech published by local outlet Alwihda Info.
The move makes Chad the latest African state to end military partnership with Paris amid a wave of anti-French sentiment in former colonies in recent years. Its neighbors Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have expelled French troops for allegedly failing to quell a deadly jihadist insurgency in the Sahel region. The three West African states have sought alternative alliances, including forging closer security ties with Russia. Chadian political analyst Evariste N’Garlem Tolde previously told RT that the French army has failed in combating rebel groups responsible for violence in the country. Paris already has a base in the country with around 1,000 troops.
Senegal’s government is also seeking the closure of all French army bases. On Thursday, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye stated in an interview with Le Monde that “there will soon be no more French troops in Senegal” without specifying when the withdrawal will take place. He is also cited as telling AFP that the French army bases are “incompatible” with the West African country’s sovereignty. France currently has 350 soldiers stationed in Senegal but plans to reduce the contingent to 100 as part of a broader military reconfiguration.
According to Thierry Mariani, “what happened with Chad is tragic; it’s 50 years of friendship that are over. The same with Senegal. It is a disaster for our foreign policy, and it is Macron’s fault. He has shown endless contempt for African leaders”.
Last year, a group of French lawmakers wrote to Macron expressing their dissatisfaction with France’s African policy failures, which they claim have resulted in deteriorating relations between former colonies.
