Headline: stories from the start…
Audio 04:19
French troops board a US Air Force transport plane at a base in Gao, Mali.
(The departure of Barkhane from Mali could be announced by then) (Illustrative image).
© Jerome Delay/AP
By: Sébastien Duhamel Follow
4 mins
Advertising
While “
Europe and Africa have a meeting in Brussels to redefine their relationship
”, “
France is organizing its withdrawal from Mali
”, explain
Les Échos
.
"
For too long, France believed in it, but this time it's over
."
This Wednesday evening, says the economic daily, "
the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, invites to the Élysée all the parties who work for security in the Sahel
[except for the putschists in Mali and Burkina Faso],
to announce the withdrawal of French forces from Mali and the end of Operation Barkhane.
»
“
It looked like a farewell dinner
,” confirms
Le Figaro
.
“
So be it: goodbye, Bamako!
exclaims its editorial.
An acknowledgment of failure for observers
A departure that leaves a somewhat bitter taste to observers.
It is done "
on an acknowledgment of cruel failure, tactical no doubt but above all political
", analyzes
Le Figaro
.
Tactic, because "
the blows struck did not succeed in eliminating the Islamist threat
" even if the French army
"seeks to deny the feeling of failure
".
And political, because "
the efforts of Barkhane's soldiers have not stemmed a growing anti-French feeling in the population
" and with the Malian junta.
But precisely to avoid this departure "
being described as a French military failure
", further notes
Les Echos
, President Macron "
wishes to make it a collective debate, in particular between Africa and Europe
".
Three months before the presidential election, “
the withdrawal from Mali where 48 French soldiers were killed and where Barkhane cost more than a billion euros per year is obviously not a desired outcome
”.
Yes, when Emmanuel Macron speaks
of “opening a new page of international engagement in the Sahel
”, Le Figaro again underlines, it is in fact “
the political dressing up of a rout which should not resemble Kabul – at the risk of casting a shadow over the countryside
.
A bitter taste for the relatives of French soldiers
A bitter taste also for some relatives of French soldiers who fell in Mali.
“
They are fathers, mothers and sons of French soldiers who died in this country
,” writes
Le Parisien Today in France
.
The newspaper gives them the floor and makes them react to this programmed withdrawal.
Like Danièle de Brus, the mother of legionnaire Harold Vormezeele, killed in 2013. She is furious at the position of the Malian junta which pushed the French soldiers towards the exit.
“
I have the impression that the blood of my son and of all his brothers in arms has flowed for nothing
”, she testifies.
A “ painful
” withdrawal
also for Jean-Marie Bockel, former mayor of Mulhouse and former Secretary of State for Defense and Veterans Affairs under Nicolas Sarkozy.
He lost his son Pierre-Emmanuel in the three-border region in 2019. "
A military commitment like this is never for nothing
" he tries to be positive, even if he is undermined by "
a feeling of waste
”.
The departure of Vincent Bolloré
The story of another departure in the newspapers this morning: Vincent Bolloré's goodbye.
“
A dotted start
” tells us Le Monde.
“
At almost 70 years old, the industrialist is supposed to retire
” this Thursday, but
“without having clearly named his successor
.
Two of his children, Cyrille and Yannick, must take over the empire and many files await them
, ”explains the newspaper.
Le Monde
returns to "
forty good and bad moves
" for Vincent Bolloré, who "
throughout his career has multiplied hostile takeover bids and raids and whose fortune is estimated at 8.2 billion euros"
.
While
L'Humanité
returns for its part to "
the call of the media against the stranglehold of Bolloré
", precisely.
The press and publishing world, united in the “Stop Bolloré” collective, organized its first press conference yesterday “
to denounce the billionaire's desire for cultural hegemony
”.
La Croix
also fears Vincent Bolloré's ambitions this morning: with the proposed acquisition of Hachette by Editis, a subsidiary of Vivendi, this would make Vincent Bolloré's group "
a giant that worries
" the publishing sector.
But let's not worry about the future of Vincent Bolloré.
Les Echos
actually gives us "
the underside of a false start
".
Vincent Bolloré passes “
symbolically the torch
”, and
“he remains CEO of the holding company”,
tells us the economic newspaper.
When the Cross presents, for its part, the "
active retreats of the big bosses
", with supporting examples.
Vincent Bolloré will therefore have enough to recycle.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Newspaper