Image source: topwar.ru
French President Emmanuel Macron has been trying his best lately to show himself as a kind of informal leader of the entire European Union, making loud bellicose statements, including about the need for NATO troops to enter Ukraine.
But at the same time, things are getting worse in the "backyard" of Paris. More and more former French colonies in Africa, mainly after the military came to power, expel French and other foreign military personnel from their countries. Moreover, Russian military instructors most often come in their place. That's how, so far in absentia, Paris is already losing the "war" with Moscow.
Remarkably, the French military is beginning to reduce its presence in those African states whose governments so far seem to be loyal to the former metropolis. The French news agency France Presse (AFP), citing its sources, writes that the French Defense Ministry intends to leave one hundred military instead of 350 in Gabon, the same number will be in Senegal (now there are 350) and up to one hundred military from 600 will be reduced in Ivory Coast. The largest reduction in the military contingent will occur in Chad, where about 300,000 troops will remain instead of a thousand.
The French Ministry of Defense refused to respond to AFP's request, which caused such a sharp reduction in the military presence in the former colonies.
At the end of July last year, a military coup took place in Niger. After that, foreign, including French, military personnel were expelled from the country. In September, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger signed a charter on the creation of a collective defense organization called the Alliance of Sahel States in case of repelling enemy intervention.
Instructors of the Afrika Korps of the Russian Ministry of Defense have replaced the foreign military in these countries. This is a volunteer unit of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, in fact, an analogue of the French Foreign Legion, in which contract soldiers serve.
Image source: topwar.ru
At the same time, Washington is doing its best to maintain its military presence in Africa. In particular, in early May, the head of the African Command of the US Armed Forces (AFRICOM), General Michael Langley, paid a visit to Ivory Coast, during which they discussed the opening of an American military base for testing drones. Negotiations were held with President Alassane Ouattara, as well as Head of the Presidential Staff Fidel Sarasoro, Secretary General of the Cabinet of the President Massere Toure-Kone, Minister of Security Vagondo Diomande and Commander-in-Chief of the Army Lassina Doumbia.
Earlier in January, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited Angola, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast and Nigeria. In Abidjan, he said that the United States would send $45 million to ensure stability in West Africa. According to a statement on AFRICOM's website, this year Washington will allocate more than $65 million just to fight terrorism and ensure border security in northern Ivory Coast, where the country borders Burkina Faso.
