France: why General Lecointre leaves the command of the armies
General François Lecointre, April 27, 2021. AFP - JOEL SAGET
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In office for four years, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, General François Lecointre, will step down and be replaced by the current Chief of Staff of the Army, General Thierry Burkhard, announced the Élysée on Sunday.
A decision that Emmanuel Macron would have gone well with less than a year of the presidential election.
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The Chief of Staff of the Armies, General François Lecointre in post for four years, announced this Sunday morning, June 13 in the program the Grand Jury on RTL that he was leaving his functions.
He did not want a "
politicization of the function of chief of staff of the armed forces
".
He did not want to leave "
at the end of the mandate
" of President Emmanuel Macron, so as not to be "
associated with a politician
", he said.
Listen to General Lecointre, who explains why he is leaving the post of Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces
Franck Alexandre
Still, a few months before the presidential election, Emmanuel Macron would have gone well with the departure of General Lecointre.
The two men had a relationship of trust.
This was without counting the determination of the Chief of Staff to leave his post.
After thirty-seven years under the banner including four years spent at the top of the French army, François Lecointre let it be understood that he was tested by his responsibilities.
Last bayonet assault
Coming from the Navy troops, General Lecointre entered military history by commanding the last bayonet assault, during the capture of the Verbania bridge in Bosnia in 1995. At the head of the armies, he implemented the 'ambitious
military programming law of
July 14, 2018 and supervised the complex Operation Barkhane.
►
To listen: End of Barkhane: "It is the recognition that the strategy defined by France did not work"
In recent weeks again, he had to give voice and pronounce "
the automatic retirement
" of the officers responsible for a controversial forum.
A learned man, a true literary man, General Lecointre now wants to take the field.
It is rumored that he wants to get involved in a social work.
►
To read also: France: strong reaction of the staff of the armies to a new "forum of soldiers"
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