France’s influence in Africa has been waning in recent years, so local officials are turning to Russia and China for help. About this in an interview with NSN declaration Yuri Rubinsky, head of the Center for French Studies of the European Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, comments on an open letter written by 94 senators to President Emmanuel Macron, in which they point to the failure of post-colonial policy in Africa.
“The senators’ alarm is understandable. China’s economic presence and the Russian army <…> can change the balance of power that has hitherto been. At the same time, neither the leadership of France, nor the USA nor the collective West Africa will give up, the race for sympathy between the West and the East will continue, ”said Rubinsky.
He thinks Macron will be desperate to maintain French influence in Africa, will make many trips to the region and try to expand cooperation with non-French countries, including former possessions of Portugal, Spain and Belgium.
Senators in their letters declarationa number of African countries – Niger, Mali, Central African Republic, Burkina Faso – abandon the political, military and economic influence of France.
Catherine Colonna, former French Minister of Foreign Affairs statedthat military intervention in Niger, where the coup attempt took place, is a very real scenario.