French President Emmanuel Macron has lashed out at some African leaders for being “ungrateful” after failing to acknowledge France’s role in preventing their nations from falling under militant control.
Macron was speaking to French diplomats on Monday, 6th January, when he made the comments.
“We had a relationship based on security; it was, in fact, two-fold. On one hand, it was our engagement against terrorism since 2013. We were right. I think someone forgot to say thank you. It’s okay, it will come with time.”
“Ungratefulness, I know too well, is a disease that cannot be transmitted to men, but I say this for all African heads of state who have not had courage in the face of public opinion.”
“None of them would be a sovereign country today if the French army wasn’t deployed in the region, and my heart goes out to all of our soldiers, some of whom have given their lives and fought for years.”
“We did the right thing. We left because there were coup d’états. We were there at the request of sovereign states who asked France to come.”
“From the moment there were coup d’états and the people said their aims were no longer fighting terrorism, if it was not this or that, France no longer belonged there.”
This comes after the French military was asked to leave several countries in the region, including Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Ivory Coast, and Benin.
It would be recalled that in December 2023, the Niger Republic expelled French troops from the country.
This happened after a military takeover of the country.
