France suspends military cooperation agreement with Ethiopia

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Jimma (Ethiopia), June 16, 2021. Marco Longari AFP / Archivos

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

The security situation is deteriorating even more in the North.

The agreement dated back to 2019, when French President Emmanuel Macron visited Addis Ababa.

Publicity

Read more

With our correspondent in Addis Ababa,

Noé Hochet-Bodin

Two years ago, the signing of the military cooperation agreement was the symbol of the rapprochement between France and the new Ethiopia of Abiy Ahmed. Emmanuel Macron congratulated himself at the time " 

on signing an agreement with a leader who decided to build peace in the region

 ". France was participating in the training of the future Ethiopian navy.

The project is now on hold, a sign of further deterioration in the links between Abiy Ahmed and his Western partners.

The Ethiopian political landscape is far from the expectations of the Elysee.

Nine months of war in Tigray have deeply destabilized the country.

The government of Abiy Ahmed, once a favorite of the West - the Prime Minister won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019,

already controversial at the time

- is today at the center of numerous

accusations of human rights violations. man

.

Agreement still not ratified by Paris

Paris has therefore suspended cooperation until further notice.

According to a diplomatic source, it is even the relationship of trust between the two countries that has deteriorated while Ethiopia has openly adopted an anti-Western tone for several months.

In addition to this cooperation with the Ethiopian navy, the entire 2019 defense agreement is called into question.

France has still not ratified it.

Newsletter

Receive all international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

  • Ethiopia

  • France