Paris, February 28 (BNA): French President Emmanuel Macron said today, Monday, that French military bases in Africa will gradually be shared with their host countries, after Paris suffered a series of setbacks in its former sphere of influence.
In a speech before a trip to four African countries this week, Macron said the French military would become less visible and fewer soldiers would be deployed, in an effort to defuse tensions in West Africa, where anti-French sentiment is running high. mentioned.
“The rules as they stand now are a legacy of the past,” he told reporters at the Elysee Palace in Paris two days before he headed to Gabon, the first country on a tour that will also take him to countries that were not former French colonies. , including Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“These bases will not be closed, but rather reorganized,” he said, adding that the new bases or “academies” will gradually begin to become “African” and run in cooperation with African and European partners.
MI