France's military forced out of Sahel region as it closes base in Chad
Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Déby's decided last November to terminate defence cooperation agreements with its former coloniser, after a tide of anti-French sentiment.
This decision was part of an historic regional trend: since 2022 with the French army withdrawing from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. The withdrawals could also continue; in recent weeks, Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire have announced they want French forces to leave their countries too.
"The countries of the region are seeking to establish new links, forge new alliances and chart their own course," explains Euronews journalist Jeremiah Fisayo Bambi.
These countries "want to guarantee their own sovereignty and be able to make their own choices, make their own decisions."
While the military juntas in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger that came to power after a coup d'état sought a break with France, Chad does not seem to be seeking to cut all ties, with N'Djamena referring to it as matter of "sovereignty". The tone in Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire towards Paris appears identical.
This "sends a strong signal that they no longer want the presence of French troops", stresses Nina Wilén, director of the Africa programme at the Egmont Institute.
"Afterwards, we saw that the French embassy in Mali is staying. There is still cooperation with France, so that doesn't mean we're cutting all ties," the French analyst added.
The impact on the European Union
Chad's withdrawal was a blow to the French authorities but it also means a loss of influence in West Africa for the European Union.
"I think that many European Union leaders have been hiding behind France (...) for the last ten years. France has led the biggest operation against terrorism in the Sahel, which has helped many European countries that did not want to invest to put troops on the ground themselves", Nina Wilén said.
But Wilén says Europe is also to blame. "On the one hand, France made a mistake in how it dealt with the various countries and their leaders, and above all, in its attitude towards them. But there is also a European willingness, or more generally a European unwillingness, to invest in these countries".
France and the EU must maintain their influence, as the departure of the French forces opens the door to other international players. All eyes are on Russia. The Russian paramilitary group Wagner, renamed Africa Corps after the death of its leader, is said to have 5,000 fighters on the African continent.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
Ukrainian man arrested over Nord Stream blasts in 2022
03:06 21/08/2025 'Power of the regulator: Holding platforms to account when they potentially violate national laws' France 21/08/2025 Anti-war protest in Gaza City as Israel prepares offensive 21/08/2025 French music festival Rock en Seine kicks off in Paris 21/08/2025 Firefighters struggle to contain wildfires in Spain and Portugal 21/08/2025 Ukraine: Largest Russian strikes in weeks as peace efforts drag on 21/08/2025 How did the rooster become a symbol of France? France 21/08/2025 Y Mekelberg: With Gaza escalation, Israel risks 'sacrificing hostages and its standing in the world' Middle East 21/08/2025 NATO weighs Ukraine security guarantees amid peace talks 21/08/2025 CHAN 2025: Three hosts, three teams through to quarters
Euronews
3 hours ago
- Euronews
The possible countries that could host a Zelenskyy-Putin summit
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pursuing direct talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin almost since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin has always refused. But with a recent push from Donald Trump, the possibility of a meeting is closer than ever. The question now is not only when, but where? The International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for Putin for the abduction of Ukrainian children limits the choice of location as he risks arrest in any of the court's 125 member states if he steps foot into their territory. Some of them are ready to make an exception though and have promised not to arrest Putin if he comes for a meeting which could put an end to the war against Ukraine. Switzerland is a possible option. The country's foreign minister said the country would be ready to host Putin for any possible peace talks despite the ICC arrest warrant. Despite its neutral status, Switzerland is a signatory to the Rome Statute that founded the court but Ignazio Cassis said that provided Putin was coming for peace purposes, the country could receive him. "This has to do with our diplomatic role, with international Geneva as (the European) headquarters of the United Nations," Cassis said. French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly supports the idea of Geneva as a potential location for the talks following a White House meeting with European leaders on Monday. Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker offered his country - also an ICC signatory - as a potential venue, saying Vienna supported any initiative leading to a just and lasting peace that protects Ukrainian and European security interests. "As proud host of (the) OSCE and many other International Organisations we stand ready to offer our good services," he said in a post on X. A country in the Middle East could be a solid compromise location. In March, Saudi Arabia hosted a US delegation for the talks first with Ukrainian and then with Russian officials. Qatar and the UAE are possible options Euronews' correspondent in Doha, Aadel Hallem, says despite being a relatively small Gulf state, Qatar has a seat at the international table and is frequently called upon to be a go-to mediator in several international conflicts. Those mediation efforts include Russia and Ukraine, specifically when it comes to the return of Ukrainian children, forcefully deported to Russia. Even when it was caught in the crossfire between the US, Iran and Israel in June, where missiles were intercepted in its airspace, Qatar was still relied upon to broker peace and de-escalate tensions. In 2020 Qatar hosted historic talks between US officials and the Taliban, which led to the Doha Agreement and eventually paved the way for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. More recently, Qatar continues to mediate talks between Israel and Hamas, which has led to several temporary ceasefires and delivered humanitarian aid into Gaza. Qatar believes mediation efforts are a core tenet of its foreign policy and a clear indicator of its soft power. Similar to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates has deliberately shaped its role as a diplomatic broker, a state able to move between rival powers while maintaining credibility with both, says Euronews correspondent in Dubai, Toby Gregory, adding that this strategy has extended directly to Russia's war in Ukraine. Earlier this year, Emirati officials helped arrange exchanges that brought home Ukrainian prisoners of war, along with children taken to Russia. It was a reminder that the Emirates can act where others have limited reach. At the same time, Abu Dhabi has preserved its dialogue with Moscow. Earlier this month, President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan travelled to Russia for talks with Vladimir Putin, a meeting that highlighted the trust both sides place in the relationship. The only meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin Since Zelenskyy became president of Ukraine in 2019, his direct communications with Putin have been limited as Russia had already been occupying Ukrainian territory in the east and in Crimea. The two presidents have had only two phone calls and a single face-to-face meeting, all in 2019. Zelenskyy and Putin met for the first and only time in Paris, during a Normandy Format Summit, in the presence of the leaders of Germany and France. Behind closed doors, the two reportedly discussed issues that still remain relevant now, albeit on an even bigger scale; a prisoner exchange and ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. In the spring of 2021, as Russia started massing troops near Ukraine's borders ahead of its full-scale invasion, Zelenskyy offered to meet with Putin "anywhere in Donbas," the eastern region in Ukraine which Russia has been trying to fully occupy and annex for over a decade now. Putin declined, denying that Russia was a part of the conflict and instead invited Zelenskyy to Moscow. The meeting never happened. As Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Zelenskyy again called for talks. Putin again rejected any dialogue on a presidential level, sending only a low-level delegation for the first attempted negotiations close to the Belarus border. Later, after the revelations of Russian forces' mass atrocities in Bucha - Ukraine's government says 458 civilians were killed - and other settlements around Ukraine's capital, Kyiv hardened its stance on communications with the Kremlin. Following Donald Trump's return to the White House, Ukraine's president renewed his push for direct talks with Moscow, now with the support of the US administration. In May, Zelenskyy made a surprise announcement that he was willing to meet Putin in Türkiye. Ukraine's president even travelled to Türkiye, but Putin didn't appear, instead sending a low-level delegation again. Actively trying to mediate between Kyiv and Moscow, Donald Trump has insisted that the meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin must take place. But the format remains unclear. One possibility is they will initially be bilateral, between Zelenskyy and Putin, and then include Trump later. That format could allow Trump to maintain his position of peacemaker in the case the meeting doesn't bring any tangible results. According to US media, Trump intends to leave Russia and Ukraine to organise a meeting between their leaders without playing a direct role for the time being, according to administration officials familiar with the situation, taking a step back from the negotiations to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But Trump reportedly told advisers that he does intend to host a trilateral meeting with the two leaders, but only after they have met first.
LeMonde
4 hours ago
- LeMonde
EU secures lower US car tariffs in new trade deal, but fails to protect wine
Details of a US-EU trade deal published on Thursday, August 21, showed Brussels secured a tariff reduction for cars exported to the United States but failed to win a reprieve for its cherished wine sector. US President Donald Trump and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen clinched a framework accord in July for most EU exports to face a 15% US levy. However, many aspects remained unclear, as the European Union sought to win carve-outs for some sectors and Trump threatened higher tariffs on others. A joint statement on Thursday brought some clarity, although negotiations are not over, as the EU said it would seek more tariff reductions. The "maximum, all-inclusive" 15% rate would apply to the vast majority of European exports, including cars, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber, the EU said. "This is the most favorable trade deal the US has extended to any partner," EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic told a press conference in Brussels, explaining the levy will not come on top of existing tariffs. In recent weeks, Trump has raised the possibility of additional tariffs targeting specific sectors such as pharmaceuticals, which account for 20% of the EU's exports to the United States, and semiconductors. Bison and wine Sefcovic said he was confident that the rate for cars, which is lower than the current 27.5%, will apply retroactively from August 1, having received assurances on the matter from his US counterpart. However, this will happen only once the EU introduces legislation to eliminate its own tariffs on US industrial products, something Sefcovic said the commission was "working very hard" on. The 15% rate will also apply to wine and spirits despite a push by France, Italy and other wine-making countries to win a zero tariff exemption. "Unfortunately, here we didn't succeed," Sefcovic said, adding negotiations would continue. "These doors are not closed forever." The French wine exporters federation said it was "hugely disappointed." "We are certain that this will create major difficulties for the wines and spirits sector," said Gabriel Picard, the head of the wine and spirits federation FEVS. Christophe Chateau, a spokesperson for a group representing Bordeaux wine producers, described this as "bad news" – but better than the worst-case scenario, with Trump who had at one point threatened tariffs as high as 200%. "It further hinders the trade and export of Bordeaux wines to the United States," which is by far their largest market, Chateau told Agence France-Presse. French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin said his government would seek "additional exemptions" in the trade deal. Under the agreement, the EU committed to significantly improving market access to a range of US seafood and agricultural goods, including tree nuts, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, pork and bison meat. On the other hand, a special more favorable regime will apply as of September 1 to a number of EU exports to the US, including "unavailable natural resources" such as cork, aircraft parts and generic pharmaceuticals. These would effectively face a "zero or close to zero" rate, the commission said. "This is not the end of the process, we continue to engage with the US to agree more tariff reductions, to identify more areas of cooperation, and to create more economic growth potential," said von der Leyen.
