Senegalese President: The presence of French military bases in our country is incompatible with our national sovereignty.
According to Russia Today, Senegalese President Bassiro Dumai Fay considered the presence of French military bases in the country to be in conflict with the country’s national sovereignty.
He added: “Senegal is an independent and sovereign country, and national sovereignty is incompatible with the presence of foreign military bases, and the French authorities should seek to establish a partnership separate from this military presence; but a strong, fruitful, clear and comprehensive partnership similar to what we have with many other countries.”
The Senegalese President stated: “The presence or absence of a military presence does not mean the severance of relations. Our country has strong relations with many countries, including China, Turkey, the United States and Saudi Arabia, and none of these countries have a military base in Senegal.”
He said: “China is today our number one trading partner in terms of investment and trade. Does China have a military base in Senegal? No, so have our relations been severed?”
The Senegalese President continued by referring to Paris’s acknowledgement of responsibility for the massacre of its colonial forces in Thiaruri near Dakar on December 1, 1944, which was announced to him in a letter from Emmanuel Macron, and expressed his satisfaction and welcome for this position, considering it an important step by Macron.
This is while hours earlier, the Chadian Foreign Ministry announced: “The time has come for Chad to fully exercise its sovereignty after more than 6 decades of independence.”
The ministry added: “The cancellation of defense and security agreements with France is a measure aimed at emphasizing national sovereignty and does not harm relations with Paris.”
It has been 64 years since the end of French colonialism in Chad, but in recent years, the deployment of French forces in this Central African country of 30 million people, especially in the last four years, has led to a strong reaction from opponents of the French military presence, and this opposition continues.
France currently has 600 troops in Ivory Coast. France also has 1,000 troops in Chad in northern Central Africa.