France: deputies worried after eight years of military engagement in the Sahel
On April 22, 2013, Operation Serval in Mali was launched.
Three months later, French parliamentarians approved the extension of the military mission.
Eight years later, Serval became Barkhane, and Parliament was no longer consulted.
© AFP / Dominique Faget
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
The day after the G5 Sahel Summit in Ndjamena, French parliamentarians debated this Thursday morning on France's policies in the Sahel.
On April 22, 2013, Operation Serval in Mali was launched.
Three months later, French parliamentarians approved the extension of the military mission.
Eight years later, Serval became Barkhane, and Parliament was no longer consulted.
The debates this Thursday showed the concerns of the deputies in the face of an intervention which settles down over time.
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After eight years of military engagement, a question is on everyone's lips: how and under what conditions will the French soldiers withdraw from the Sahel?
Among the deputies, there are those who fully express their support for this military action.
Like Bertrand Pancher of the Libertés et Territoire group: “
France has made the choice which honors it to respond by intervening politically, militarily and by promoting development.
France's Sahelian strategy also aims to support these states in their capacity to ensure their security independently.
Our Freedoms and Territories group joins this strategy which seems complete to us.
"
►
Also to listen: The Barkhane anti-terrorist force in the Sahel: "we lose soldiers because we take risks"
And then there are the skeptical deputies, who from the very beginning have questioned the merits of this intervention.
“
We are at war,”
says Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of La France insoumise.
What are the objectives ?
What are we doing there?
The war on terrorism?
Since when has France made war on concepts?
Who is our enemy in Mali?
Who pay these people?
We must name the enemy who pays because who pays commands.
And someone pays.
If today you tell us there are more jihadists, you have to ask yourself why?
Is it because of our French presence or because someone is putting more money into it?
"
Faced with MEPs, the authorities want to be reassuring: the European partners are also increasingly involved in the field.
At the same time, the Minister of the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, is betting in particular on the gradual empowerment of Sahelian forces in order to take over in the long term.
I will repeat, if necessary, that Operation Barkhane is not eternal.
But today, there is no question of leaving because our partners ask us to continue to help them.
Florence Parly, Minister of the Armed Forces
► To read also: G5 Sahel summit: the French force Barkhane at the crossroads
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