Paris (AFP)
Emmanuel Macron paid tribute on Wednesday to the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, General François Lecointre, who is leaving office after a long career as an "exceptional soldier" and is replaced by General Thierry Burkhard.
"You have, for four years, perfectly met all my expectations," said the Head of State, addressing the army chief he had appointed in July 2017 after the sudden resignation of General Pierre de Villiers.
"I chose you because I wanted to give meaning to the command of the nation's armies", he added during the speech concluding the Farewell to Arms ceremony in the courtyard of the Hôtel national des Invalides. .
He thanked him in particular for his "loyalty" and his "competence", in particular for the establishment of the Law of military programming, which "repairs and modernizes the means of the army".
"You can leave with the satisfaction of a duty accomplished. France expresses its deep gratitude to you," Macron said before shaking hands with General Lecointre, aged 59, for a long time.
During his 37 years in uniform, the athletic Saint-Cyrien from the marine infantry served in Iraq, Djibouti, Somalia, Rwanda as well as during the Yugoslav war in 1995. He was also chief of the military cabinet of three Prime Ministers: Manuel Valls, Bernard Cazeneuve and Edouard Philippe.
On June 13, he announced his decision to leave his post, explaining that it was "not good for a chief of staff to be able to be exactly aligned with a presidential mandate" and therefore the election of 2022. He had assured to have had, with the President, "the same understanding of what should be the role of the armies".
His replacement as "CEMA" is the boss of the army, the legionary Thierry Burkhard, 56 years old, who has a long operational experience in the Foreign Legion and the paratroopers.
His delicate mission will be to supervise the reduction announced by Emmanuel Macron of the French military presence in the Sahel, after more than eight years of massive engagement.
© 2021 AFP