France's military forced out of Sahel region as it closes base in Chad

The handover of the last French military base in Chad and the Sahel marks a loss of influence for Paris and European interests in the region.

Transcript

00:00France no longer has a military base in Chad.

00:10Paris is turning the page on its 60-year presence in the country, but above all, it is losing

00:16its last anchor point in the Sahel.

00:20Between 2022 and 2023, the French army withdrew from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, and is

00:28now leaving Chad.

00:30This trend is set to continue, as Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire have announced their intention

00:35to withdraw the French forces present on their territory.

00:40These decisions mark a loss of influence for France, a former colonial power in West Africa.

00:46Countries in the region are looking to forge new connections, to forge new alliances, to

00:52chart their own path.

00:54And some of the juntas in these countries talked in terms of sovereignty.

00:58They want to guarantee their own sovereignty and be able to make their own choices and

01:03decisions and be able to chart a new path forward.

01:07Now, whether this is true in terms of excessive French influence, whether this is true or

01:14not is another story.

01:16But one thing that's certain is that these countries want to chart a new path forward.

01:22The military juntas in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger that came to power after a coup

01:27d'état sought to break with France, Chad, Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire, on the other hand

01:33seem to want to continue cooperating with Paris.

01:37But this withdrawal is also a blow to the European Union, which some believe is also

01:41partly to blame.

01:43I think there are many leaders of the European Union who have hidden behind France, for better

01:49or for worse.

01:50I would say that in the last ten years, France has carried out the largest counterterrorism

01:55operations in the Sahel.

01:57And that has put a lot of European countries in a position where they don't want to invest

02:03in putting troops on the ground themselves.

02:06But that also means that they can also blame France now that France has left.

02:12It's a challenge for France and the EU as they want to maintain their influence, because

02:17the departure of French forces opens the door to other international players, starting with

02:22Russia and China.