By RFIPalled on 03-11-2019 Modified 11-03-2019 at 20:19
Emmanuel Macron arrives this Monday evening in Djibouti, at the tip of East Africa. This is the first on-site visit of a French president since Nicolas Sarkozy in 2010. The Head of State wants to send a message of support to the historic partner of France in the Horn of Africa while the region is in full upheaval.
With our special envoy to Djibouti, Anthony Lattier
" Between France and Djibouti, it's often I love you, me neither. This is how a specialist in the region summarizes the relations between Paris and its former colony. Relations better today than in the past: the arrival of Emmanuel Macron is an illustration of this.
After an interview with his counterpart Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, in power since 1999, the head of state will visit the military base where there are nearly 1,500 people, the largest French contingent in Africa.
But Djibouti is no longer the preserve of France since there are also on-site bases, American, Japanese and especially Chinese. China has an ever-growing influence.
Emmanuel Macron wants to reaffirm the presence of France on the spot. He sends, according to his relatives, a " political signal " to his historical partner. A partner whose position of strategic pivot in the region is weakened by the recent opening of Eritrea, which opens new corridors to Ethiopia. Paris wants Djibouti "to have its place " in the recomposition in progress.
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