https://en.sputniknews.africa/20240517/senegalese-prime-minister-questions-need-for-french-bases-on-its-territory-1066589455.html
Senegalese Prime Minister Questions Need for French Bases on Its Territory
Senegalese Prime Minister Questions Need for French Bases on Its Territory
Sputnik Africa
The youngest president in Senegal's history, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, was sworn in in April after winning the presidential election with 54.28% of the vote. Faye... 17.05.2024, Sputnik Africa
2024-05-17T12:39+0200
2024-05-17T12:39+0200
2024-05-17T14:11+0200
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Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko has raised the possibility of closing French military bases in the country, arguing that the West African nation's desire for its own control is incompatible with the prolonged presence of foreign military bases.He added that the defense agreements signed do not justify the fact that "a third of the Dakar region is now occupied by foreign garrisons."Sonko, who clarified that he was speaking as the leader of the PASTEF party and not the government, also criticized the past and recent actions of the West, Europe and France, including during his party's confrontation with former President Macky Sall.He accused French President Emmanuel Macron of welcoming and "congratulating" his Senegalese counterpart "at the worst [time]" of the crackdown, when the persecution of Sonko's movement led to dozens of deaths and hundreds of arrests.The prime minister also called on Western countries to show "restraint, respect, reciprocity and tolerance" on social issues, including LGBTQ* rights and gender equality.Sonko also touched on Senegal's relationship with the Alliance of Sahel States, which includes Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, noting that Dakar "will do everything possible to strengthen ties and express our solidarity with them."He said that those countries that "condemn regimes that are considered military or dictatorial, yet tend to go along with other regimes that are not democratic when it comes to negotiating oil or markets," pointing out their contradictory policies.In September 2023, the military leaders of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger signed a charter for the Alliance of Sahel States to create a collective defense architecture amidst deteriorating relations with France and the Economic Community of West African States following the July coup in Niger.The nations have had strained relations with the regional bloc since the military took power in Mali in 2020, Burkina Faso in 2022 and Niger in 2023.* The "LGBT movement" is classified as extremist by the Russian authorities and is banned in Russia.
https://en.sputniknews.africa/20240509/senegal-to-review-its-fishing-agreements-including-those-with-eu-1066456745.html
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Senegalese Prime Minister Questions Need for French Bases on Its Territory
12:39 17.05.2024 (Updated: 14:11 17.05.2024) The youngest president in Senegal's history, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, was sworn in in April after winning the presidential election with 54.28% of the vote. Faye appointed former opposition leader and founder of his PASTEF party, Ousmane Sonko, as prime minister.
Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko has raised the possibility of closing French military bases in the country, arguing that the West African nation's desire for its own control is incompatible with the prolonged presence of foreign military bases.
"More than 60 years after our independence, we must question the reasons why, for example, the French army still benefits from several military bases in our country and the impact of this presence on our national sovereignty and strategic autonomy," the leader said.
He added that the defense agreements signed do not justify the fact that "a third of the Dakar region is
now occupied by foreign garrisons."
Sonko, who clarified that he was speaking as the leader of the PASTEF party and not the government, also criticized the past and recent actions of the West, Europe and France, including during his party's confrontation with former President Macky Sall.
He accused French President Emmanuel Macron of welcoming and "congratulating" his Senegalese counterpart "at the worst [time]" of the crackdown, when the persecution of Sonko's movement led to dozens of deaths and hundreds of arrests.
"This is an incitement to repression, an incitement to persecute and execute Senegalese who have committed no crime other than the realization of a political project," Sonko said. "You never hear the French government condemning what happened."
The prime minister also called on Western countries to show "restraint, respect, reciprocity and tolerance" on
social issues, including LGBTQ* rights and gender equality.
"It [LGBT] exists, but we manage it and we continue to manage it in our own way and according to our socio-cultural realities, and that is why we say that in these considerations we call on the Western world to demonstrate for once withholding respect for reciprocity and tolerance," Sonko remarked.
Sonko also touched on Senegal's relationship with the Alliance of Sahel States, which includes Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, noting that Dakar "will do everything possible to strengthen ties and express our solidarity with them."
He said that those countries that "condemn regimes that
are considered military or dictatorial, yet tend to go along with other regimes that are not democratic when it comes to negotiating oil or markets," pointing out their contradictory policies.
"The internal problems of countries should be solved by the citizens of those countries. It is true that there have been coups, and it is true that no one encourages coups, but I refuse to be one of those who analyze the symptoms and refuse to analyze the real causes of these coups," the prime minister concluded.
In September 2023, the military leaders of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger signed a charter for the Alliance of Sahel States to create a collective defense architecture amidst deteriorating relations with France and the Economic Community of West African States following the July coup in Niger.
The nations have had strained relations with the regional bloc since the military took power in Mali in 2020, Burkina Faso in 2022 and Niger in 2023.
* The "LGBT movement" is classified as extremist by the Russian authorities and is banned in Russia.
