Emmanuel Macron arrived in Cameroon on Tuesday, a first visit to the country that marks the beginning of his tour of Africa. The Head of State wants to relaunch Franco-African collaboration and reaffirm in Cameroon the political and economic relations between the two countries, which are losing momentum.
In particular, the president met with his counterpart Paul Biya in Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon. As France refocuses its ties with Africa, Emmanuel Macron is also concerned about Russian influence on the continent and denounces the Kremlin’s agenda.
Questioned during a joint press conference with Paul Biya at the end of the meeting, Emmanuel Macron described the Russian presence in Africa as “worrying”.
“Russia is happy wherever power is captured”
The Head of State began by evoking the presence “of a great political and military power that has developed a relationship with several countries, as is normal in the great concert of nations.” But Emmanuel Macron also sees a presence there that he describes as “hybrid”, considering that “Russia has spread a lot of false information on African soil, with agencies such as Russia Today or Sputnik”.
The President of the Republic has also targeted militias, such as Wagner, which operates in Africa. “The cooperation that we have seen developing in Mali is very worrying,” he told reporters.
Before this official diplomatic meeting, the entourage of the Head of State already set the tone for the exchanges.
A close friend of the president informs BFMTV that the head of state denounces in particular a “Turkish and Russian aggressiveness that wants to revive the colonial past.”
“Russia has an African agenda that is not for the well-being of Africa and Africans, but is an agenda that feeds on destabilization and seeks to fracture the world. You can clearly see the Russian diplomatic choreography being done at the moment. and that is a real issue. It feeds on destabilization because Russia is happy wherever power is taken,” said those around him.
Therefore, Emmanuel Macron’s tour takes place against the background of a struggle for influence with Russia. The president had already pointed his finger early on Tuesday at the “problems of economic governance” in Africa: “we must help regulate the issues of corruption and over-indebtedness that are a scourge for the African continent.”
The president hinted that African measures should be taken against Moscow: “It was Russia that started the war. We have decided to do everything possible to stop this war without taking part in it. The Europeans, by doing so, sanction Russia to block the war.” “. effort and isolate it diplomatically. This is where we need you too, otherwise this pattern will repeat itself for life.”
Before addressing the thorny Russian dossier, Emmanuel Macron returned to many key points in relations between France and its “strategic partner”, in particular food security and the terrorist threat on Cameroonian territory.
Source: BFM TV
