Chad breaks off military pact with France; Senegal wants French troops out
The moves come against a backdrop of Russia's ambitions to expand its foothold on the African continent.
Chad’s government abruptly ended a defense cooperation agreement with former colonial power France, issuing the unexpected announcement just a few hours after a meeting of the foreign ministers of the two countries.
“After 66 years since the independence of the Republic of Chad, it is time for Chad to assert its full sovereignty, and to redefine its strategic partnerships according to national priorities,” Chad’s Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah said in a statement late Thursday.
“This decision, taken after in-depth analysis, marks a historic turning point,” he said.
The announcement came just hours after Koulamallah met with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot in Chad’s capital N’Djamena. Koulamallah said that the meeting took place without incident.
The French government has yet to comment.
Chad’s decision will require French troops — around a thousand are reportedly stationed there — to leave the landlocked Central African country. Chad is the latest nation asking France to withdraw its forces, after Paris was forced to pull its military out of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger following military coups.
Just a few hours earlier, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said France should close its military bases in his country.
Faye said French President Emmanuel Macron had admitted for the first time that France was responsible for a massacre of Senegalese soldiers in 1944, as the country prepares to mark the 80th anniversary of the slaughter on Sunday.
“Senegal is an independent country; it is a sovereign country and sovereignty does not accept the presence of military bases in a sovereign country,” said Faye.
The comments from Chad and Senegal come against a backdrop of Russia’s ambitions to expand its foothold on the African continent — and amid political instability.
Both Chad and Senegal reiterated that the situations in their countries are different from Niger, and their decisions do not represent a break from France.
France’s foreign ministry did not immediately reply to a request for a comment.
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