French President Emmanuel Macron said today, Monday, that his country will gradually manage its military bases in Africa in partnership with the countries hosting those bases, after Paris faced a series of setbacks in its former sphere of influence.
And the French President added - during a speech before a tour that includes 4 African countries this week - that the presence of the French army and the number of soldiers in Africa will be reduced, in an attempt to defuse tensions in the west of the continent, where anti-French sentiment is growing.
"The rules as they are now are a legacy of the past," Macron told reporters at the Elysee Palace in Paris, two days before he went to Gabon, explaining that French bases in Africa would not be closed, but would be reorganized.
He added that the new military bases or "academies" will gradually begin to become "African" and will be run in cooperation with African and European partners.
Gabon is the first country on his tour, during which Macron will visit countries that were not French colonies, including Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
the context of the visit
The tour comes just over a week after Burkina Faso ended a military pact that allowed France to fight militants in the West African country, becoming the latest African country to refuse Paris' help.
France withdrew its forces from Mali last year after the military council there began working with Russian military contractors.
France has about 3 thousand soldiers in Africa, especially in Niger and Chad, while the number was 5 thousand and 500 soldiers a short time ago.
Wagner Group
The Russian private military group, Wagner, has spread to the Central African Republic, raising fears in Paris that other countries may seek the help of this group, at a time when Western countries are trying to build pressure against Russia over its war on Ukraine.
And the French President considered that African countries will eventually stop resorting to the Wagner Group, "because they will know that they only spread misery," and described the Wagner Group, which is close to the Kremlin, as "a group of criminal mercenaries, life insurance for failed regimes and putschists."
Macron accused Russia of feeding anti-Paris propaganda in Africa to serve "aggressive" ambitions.