A G5 Sahel summit will take place on Friday, July 9, through video conferencing, the first since the announcement of the gradual end of Operation Barkhane. Emmanuel Macron will attend the meeting. He should take the opportunity to clarify the contours of this decoupling. The French president will attend this Elysee summit. But he will not be alone, he will have Mohamed Bazoum, the Nigerian president, by his side.
Last February in Ndjamena, Sahelia’s leader and French president has congratulated results obtained against the Islamic State in Greater Sahara (EIGS) in the so-called three-border area. Five months later, the time is really over for optimism.
Burkina Faso has since suffered the worst attack on its land since 2015 and the situation in Mali has hardly improved. France has announced the gradual withdrawal of Operation Barkhane. The idea is to halve the number of French soldiers in the region within a year and a half.
Emmanuel Macron will meet for the first time since this announcement with Sahelia’s leader. Leader to whom he must specify the withdrawal plan and promote the European Takouba Working Group, 600 strong today and who must follow the Malian armed forces in battle.
The problem is that relations between Paris and some capitals seem to have deteriorated. If France has resumed its military cooperation with Mali, the new coup for the junta has strained the French authorities. Emmanuel Macron no longer hides his outrage over some states’ lack of sensitivity.
In this context, Paris intends more than ever to rely on Niamey, as evidenced by Mohamed Bazoum’s arrival on Friday in the Elysee to attend this summit with the French President.
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