French President Emmanuel Macron has called on his Burkina Faso counterpart, Ibrahim Traoré, to give him «clarifications» on the decision announced on Saturday to give French troops a one-month deadline to leave the African country.
«We are waiting for clarifications from Mr. Traoré on this issue,» Macron explained during his press conference in Paris on the occasion of the Franco-German summit with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
«I am waiting for Acting President Traoré to be able to speak, because I understand that these messages are mired in great confusion (…). I think we have to be very careful and watch out for what is a specialty of some and may have something to do with what we are experiencing in Ukraine. Namely, our Russian friends,» he said.
On Saturday Burkina Faso’s official news agency, AIB, reported that the government had denounced the bilateral agreement for the deployment of French troops in the African country and that under the same agreement it will give the French contingent one month to leave the country. The agreement has been in force since December 17, 2018.
France has some 400 special forces military personnel deployed in Burkina Faso as part of Operation Sable.
Captain Ibrahim Traoré has been ruling the country since the September 30 coup d’état and has repeatedly stated his intention to regain «territorial integrity» and «national sovereignty».
Burkina Faso has generally experienced a significant increase in insecurity since 2015, with attacks by both Al Qaeda and Islamic State affiliates, leading to a wave of internally displaced persons and refugees to other countries in the region.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
