By RFIPosted on 20-12-2019Changed on 20-12-2019 at 21:52

Emmanuel Macron landed this Friday, December 20 around 4:45 p.m. local time in Abidjan for a two-day official visit to Côte d'Ivoire. The Head of State went to the military camp of Port Bouët which shelters the French forces in Ivory Coast, to share the traditional Christmas meal with the troops.

At the exit of the plane, the French president first had a quick head to head with his counterpart Alassane Ouattara who must fly in the evening for Abuja, where a summit of the ECOWAS is held Saturday morning.

Emmanuel Macron then took charge of the French forces' military camp in Côte d'Ivoire at Port Bouët for the Christmas dinner with the troops. 1,100 people are invited: French soldiers, their families, but also Ivorian soldiers.

Before this dinner, Emmanuel Macron met privately with a handful of soldiers from these French forces in Côte d'Ivoire. Soldiers mobilized in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel, and among them a commando group which took part in the operation in which 13 French soldiers died in late November in Mali. Paris thus wishes to highlight the fact that its forces present in Côte d'Ivoire intervene punctually but regularly in support of Barkhane

Christmas in Mali abandoned for " logistical " reasons

A gesture also intended perhaps for those who expected that after Chad in 2018 and Niger in 2017, this Christmas dinner will take place this year in Mali with Barkhane on the front line in the fight against terrorism in Sahel and recently bereaved. A choice considered for a while, we are told in the entourage of the predictor, but abandoned since for " logistical " reasons in particular.

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