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The African country’s leader demanded the departure of some 350 French troops in November last year
Senegal and France have agreed to set up a commission to organize the withdrawal of French troops from the West African nation and the transfer of military bases by the end of 2025.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and his Senegalese counterpart, Yassine Fall, announced the decision in a joint statement on Wednesday.
“The two countries intend to work towards a new defense and security partnership that takes into account the strategic priorities of all parties,” they stated.
The planned departure of about 350 French soldiers stationed in the African country follows Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s decision to completely remove the former colonial power’s military presence.
In November, Faye, who has been in office for less than a year, declared the French army bases “incompatible” with Senegal’s sovereignty.
Last week, local media reported that Paris had begun the withdrawal of its forces from the former colony and had handed over three military bases to the government. According to several French outlets, Paris plans to remove troops from all five army camps in Senegal by the end of September.
If completed, the move will add Dakar to the list of African governments that have severed defense ties with France in recent years. Paris pulled out the last of its approximately 1,500 soldiers and pilots from Niger in December 2023, after Niamey demanded their departure following a coup on July 26 of the same year. Mali and Burkina Faso, both under military rule, have expelled the French army for allegedly failing to combat jihadist insurgents in the Sahel region.
Late in January, the French army handed over its remaining base in Chad, which had been France’s last foothold in the troubled Sahel. The Central African country abruptly terminated military cooperation with its former colonial ruler in November, declaring the pact obsolete.
In December, the president of Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire), Alassane Ouattara, also announced an impending “organized withdrawal” of some 600 French forces from the country – a move he claims aims at modernizing the national armed forces.
While Paris has accused Russia of contributing to its military failures in Africa, French politician and member of the European Parliament Thierry Mariani blamed President Emmanuel Macron for France’s foreign policy “catastrophe” on the continent in an interview with RIA Novosti late last year.
