 "Macron says Africa's Sahel nations 'forgot to thank' France for saving them from Islamists")
France’s President Emmanuel Macron on Monday said that he is still awaiting thanks from the Sahel states for Paris’s efforts in preventing them from succumbing to militant control.
He also rejected claims that France had been forced out of the region.
Addressing French ambassadors at the annual foreign policy conference for 2025, Macron affirmed that France made the right decision to intervene in 2013 to combat Islamist militants, despite the fact that those countries have since distanced themselves from French military assistance.
“I think that they forgot to thank us, but that’s ok, it will come in time,” Reuters quoted Macron as saying.
French troops have in recent years pulled out of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso after successive military coups and are in the process of withdrawing from Chad, Senegal and Ivory Coast.
“None of them would have a sovereign state if the French army had not deployed in this region,” Macron added.
Macron dismissed the notion that Paris had been kicked out of the region, saying it had decided to re-organise its strategy.
“No, France is not on the back foot in Africa, it is just lucid and reorganising itself,” he said.
With inputs from agencies
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