France’s military operations in the Sahel have been a success as they have prevented the creation of a caliphate, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with French weekly Le Point published online Wednesday evening.
France launched two military operations in 2013 and again in 2014: Serval and Barkhane.
“These French interventions, at the request of African states, have been successful. They have prevented the creation of caliphates a few thousand kilometres from our borders”, said Macron, adding, “France was right to join forces with African states to fight terrorism”.
Without them, “there would probably no longer be Mali, no longer be Burkina Faso, and I’m not even sure there would still be Niger”, said Macron.
He went on to explain that while these operations reflect France’s “honour” and “responsibility”, France could no longer remain involved “when there is a coup d’état, and the priority of the new regimes is not to fight terrorism” even though this is “tragic for the states concerned”.
However, the full success of these operations is not shared by everyone.
For instance, former French ambassador Gérard Araud recently told EURACTIV France in an interview that Operation Serval was considered a success on the ground as it had helped push back the jihadists.
Regarding Operation Barkhane, the former ambassador was less optimistic, saying it had “increased the jihadist threat” as it created an alliance between Islamist groups and other terrorist groups, resulting in a united group “whose only obsession is the death of the Western soldier”.
Macron also defended his policy in the region, which he explained consisted of moving away from a “security rationale” towards a “partnership rationale”, in which “France defends its interests and helps Africa to succeed”.
Some, 1,500 French soldiers are still deployed in Niger in the fight against jihadism, as France does not recognise the putschist generals’ termination of the military agreements.
Macron once again called for the restoration of constitutional order and the release of his Nigerien counterpart Mohamed Bazoum, lamenting the fact that the military coup in Niger was “a blow against democracy in Niger, against the Nigerien people and against the fight against terrorism”.
(Davide Basso | EURACTIV.fr)
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