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French Minister of Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu, is on an official visit to Ivory Coast to strengthen the bilateral defense relations between the two countries
French Minister of Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu, is on an official visit to Ivory Coast to strengthen the bilateral defense relations between the two countries. In Abidjan, he said that the Ivorian army has evolved well over the last few years. However, he declined to comment on Burkina Faso’s recent decision to end the deployment of French forces on its soil.
In his interface with the media, Lecornu emphasised France’s commitment to engage with security issues in West Africa, to end the Islamist insurgency, which is spreading fast in the region, while pledging France’s military support to Ivory Coast. Currently, Paris is re-strategizing its West Africa policy after Burkina Faso ordered the French forces to leave the country.
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The French minister underscored the need for evolving a common security agenda between the two countries to ensure regional power balance. The French focus may be on developing human resources, training modules, etc for the Ivorian army. French President Emmanuel Macron is due to visit sub-Saharan Africa in early March. It is still not clear whether he would visit Ivory Coast or make a stop at the Sahel region, where the French forces exited or were in the process of exiting in recent times.
