Chad: surprise end to military agreements with France
“A move that is still to be interpreted, which nonetheless took a bit of everyone by surprise,” local sources in N’Djamena, the capital of Chad, tell Fides Agency
(L.M. – Agenzia Fides 29/11/2024)
“The Government of the Republic of Chad informs the national and international public of the decision to end the defense cooperation agreement signed with the French Republic revised on September 5, 2019,” says the statement of the Chadian Foreign Ministry published on the evening of November 28. A symbolic date, given that it is Republic Proclamation Day and just hours before French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot’s visit to Chad.
A decision “taken after careful reflection” that “marks a historic turning point,” the statement stressed. This is because “after 66 years since the proclamation of the Republic of Chad, it is time for Chad to assert its full and entire sovereignty, and to redefine its strategic partners according to national priorities.”
At present, the fate of the French troops, some 1,000 strong, stationed in the country is unknown. “Chad, in accordance with the terms of the agreement, commits to abide by the terms provided for its termination, including the notice period, and to cooperate with the French authorities to ensure a harmonious transition,” the N’Djamena government points out.
Finally, Chadian authorities assure that they want to continue “constructive relations with France in other fields of common interest.” A formulation that seems to exclude (or at least severely curtail) the defense sector that until now was the linchpin of the relationship between N’Djamena and Paris.
Chad was the last bastion of French military presence in Sahelian Africa after the French military was driven out by military juntas in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
The N’Djamena government, which gained the support of the French military to repel rebel offensives in 2008 and 2019, has initiated contacts at the level of defense issues with other powers, such as Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Russia. The United States has also long had significant military relations with Chad. The Hungarian government also plans to send at least 200 soldiers to help Chad control its borders.
In the same hours as the Chadian announcement, the President of Senegal (one of the pillars of the French military presence in West Africa), Bassirou Diomaye Faye, told Agence France Press that the presence of French military bases on his country’s territory, is incompatible with national sovereignty.
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