В четверг французские военные завершили вывод войск из Сенегала, последней западноафриканской страны с постоянным присутствием войск, на фоне ослабления регионального влияния Парижа.

Франция столкнулась с оппозицией со стороны лидеров некоторых из своих бывших колоний в Африке из-за того, что они назвали унизительным и деспотичным подходом к континенту.

Французские военные передали Кэмп-Гейл, свою крупнейшую базу в Сенегале, вместе с близлежащим воздушным объектом, правительству Сенегала во время церемонии в столице страны Дакаре.

Генерал Паскаль Янни, командующий французскими войсками в Африке, заявил, что передача знаменует собой новый этап в военных отношениях.

«Это часть решения Франции о ликвидации постоянных военных баз в Западной и Центральной Африке и ответ на желание сенегальских властей больше не размещать постоянные иностранные войска на своей территории», — сказал он.

 

Президент Франции Эммануэль Макрон приветствует президента Сенегала Бассиру Диомайе Файе перед рабочим обедом в Париже, 20 июня, 2024 AP Photo

Senegal's military chief, General Mbaye Cissé, said the withdrawal supports the country's new defence strategy.

"Its primary goal is to affirm the autonomy of the Senegalese armed forces while contributing to peace in the subregion, in Africa, and globally," Cissé said.

The ceremony marked the completion of a three-month withdrawal of roughly 350 French troops from the West African country, which began in March.

France's military had been present in Senegal since it gained independence from France in 1960, under military cooperation agreements between the two countries.

The withdrawal followed a call by Senegal President Bassirou Diomaye Faye last year for all foreign troops to leave, citing Senegal’s sovereignty as incompatible with hosting foreign bases.

"Senegal is an independent country, it is a sovereign country and sovereignty does not accommodate the presence of military bases in a sovereign country", he said last year, adding that Dakar would instead pursue a "renewed partnership" with Paris.

Senegal's new government has taken a hard-line stance against the presence of French troops as part of a larger regional backlash against what many see as the legacy of an oppressive colonial empire.

France has announced plans to sharply reduce its presence at all its bases in Africa, except in the eastern African country of Djibouti.

It said it would instead provide defence training or targeted military support, based on needs expressed by those countries.

 

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France has suffered a series of setbacks in West Africa recently, including in Chad and the Ivory Coast, where it handed over its last military bases earlier this year.

They follow the ousting of French forces in recent years in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, where military-led governments have turned to Russia instead for military support.

Around 350 French servicemen are still present in Gabon, where the army has turned its base into a camp shared with the central African nation.

Ivory Coast still hosts some 80 French servicemen who advise and train the country's military, and Djibouti is the last African country where France has a permanent military presence, with around 1,500 troops.

Africanews