Former minister Jean-Marie Bockel named “Personal Envoy” of Emmanuel Macron in Africa
Jean-Marie Bockel, short-lived Minister of Cooperation under former President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007, who announced the end of Françafrique, will be responsible for explaining to African countries in which French bases are located (with the exception of Djibouti) the new military strategy put in place by Paris.
Jean-Marie Bockel, in Versailles, May 7, 2011. (AFP / JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN)
By: RFI Follow
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Emmanuel Macron entrusted Jean-Marie Bockel with the task of “
changing the status, format and mission of French bases in Africa
”, according to a letter that RFI obtained.
To repeat part of the rhetoric of the French president during his speech to the armies, in November 2022, it is still a question of militarily supporting countries like Chad, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Gabon where France has basics, but under new principles to be defined in good agreement with these countries. Only the case of Djibouti, where France has a base alongside the United States and China, escapes this mission.
It is therefore to this former Secretary of State for Defense and Veterans Affairs that this diplomatic-military consultation work is entrusted. The first goal set for him is to make recommendations to Emmanuel Macron by this summer.
The choice is highly symbolic on the part of the Élysée: Jean-Marie Bockel has a particular relationship with the continent. In 2008, his declaration on the end of “Françafrique” cost him his position as Minister of Cooperation under former President Nicolas Sarkozy. On November 25, 2019, his son, Lieutenant Pierre Emmanuel Bockel, was killed in Mali during a helicopter crash as part of Operation Barkhane.
Also read Jean-Marie Bockel on RFI: “There is an expectation from France in Africa”
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