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Macron suffers fiasco in Niger, Africa to go more independent in security matters — expert

"Macron invested a great deal of his political capital in the reassembly of Franco-African relations, but failed to achieve their overall stabilization," Vsevolod Sviridov said

MOSCOW, September 25. /TASS/. French President Emmanuel Macron's policy in Niger and other countries of the Sahara-Sahel region has suffered a fiasco, as the African continent will continue to gain greater independence from the former Western colonial powers in security matters, says Vsevolod Sviridov, an expert of the Center for African Studies of the National Research University Higher School of Economics.

Yesterday, Macron said that Paris had decided to recall its ambassador to Niger and also announced that France intended to pull out its military by the end of the year. These moves, Sviridov believes, are sure signs the French leader's policy in the countries of the Sahara-Sahel region has fallen through with a crash.

"Macron invested a great deal of his political capital in the reassembly of Franco-African relations, but failed to achieve their overall stabilization," Sviridov told TASS.

According to the expert, in this context, it is important to note that in security matters Africa is being sovereignized and this trend will continue.

"Former colonial powers are reducing their involvement in security issues on the continent, handing them over to African countries," Sviridov explained.

At the same time, the analyst cautioned against interpreting Paris' obvious failures in the Sahara-Sahel region as signs of France's complete decline in Africa.

"France still has strong positions in other countries of the region - in Cameroon, in Cote d'Ivoire and in Benin," the expert recalled. "Besides, we do not yet know exactly how France will be leaving Niger. Possibly, it will try to stay. Maybe it will be making artificial delays. When France was leaving Mali, almost the entire contingent was moved to Niger. Niger has become the main base for French forces. Now the question is where they will go from Niger. It could be other countries in the region that are traditionally friendly to France. It is important to understand who will fill this power vacuum."

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Foreign policy France Emmanuel Macron

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