Moscow reacts to French troops exiting Ivory Coast

https://www.rt.com/africa/609313-french-troops-ivory-coast-exit-moscow-reaction/

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The African nation no longer needs the “supposed support” of foreign troops, the Russian Foreign Ministry has stated

The planned withdrawal of French troops from Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire) shows that the contingent is no longer needed in the West African nation, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

France is set to hand over its largest military base on the Gulf of Guinea, Port-Boue, located southeast of Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s former capital, to the local authorities. The expected withdrawal is being portrayed as a significant step for the country to regain control of its defense installations.

The move was first announced in October, when General Pascal Ianni, commander of the French forces in Africa, met with the Ivorian army chief of staff, General Lassina Doumbia, in Abidjan. During the talks, the head of Africa Command (CPA) reportedly said the French army’s 43rd Marine Battalion camp would be “gradually redeployed.” 

The army official did not provide a timeline, but in a statement on Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said the “final change of owner” of the base is scheduled for July or August 2025.

“Moscow believes that the upcoming withdrawal of the French contingent is evidence that it’s no longer needed in Cote d’Ivoire, whose authorities do not need the supposed ‘support’ of foreign troops stationed there since 1893,” the ministry stated.

“This generally fits into the logic of the processes taking place in the Francophone countries of West Africa, whose populations are increasingly critical of the large-scale presence [of foreign troops],” it added.

If finalized, Ivory Coast will join its West African neighbors Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger as countries in the region that have parted with French security forces, amid a wave of anti-colonial sentiment. Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has said French military bases are “incompatible” with the country’s sovereignty and announced that they “will soon be no more.” 

Earlier this week, two French fighter jets flew out of Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, marking the beginning of France’s withdrawal of military equipment, along with around 1,000 soldiers from the central African country. The N’Djamena base had been the headquarters of France’s anti-terrorism operation in the Sahel region.

Last month, Chad terminated its defense cooperation agreement with France, from which it gained independence in 1960. Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, all former French colonies now ruled by military leaders, have also severed defense ties with Paris, citing the failure of a decade-long counterterrorism mission against jihadists in the Sahel. The three landlocked countries have also accused Paris of aggression and sought closer security and trade ties with Moscow.

Thierry Mariani, a European Parliament member, told RIA Novosti last week that Paris has lost almost all of its footholds in Africa as a result of French President Emmanuel Macron’s “endless contempt for African leaders.”