French forces have withdrawn from Chad after 65 years, although France maintains that military cooperation will continue.
French forces have left Chad after 65 years of almost continuous presence in the West African country.
While the withdrawal was undertaken at Chad’s request, France’s foreign ministry told RFI it is "absolutely not the end" of cooperation on military matters.
The ministry's spokesperson also outlined France’s position on the crisis in eastern DRC where Rwanda-backed M23 rebels are advancing in North and South Kivu provinces.
On Thursday, the French army handed the Adij Kossei base – its last military compound in Chad – over to Chadian authorities, with President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno welcoming what he called the "definitive and complete departure" of French forces.
The handover marks the end of France's military presence in its former colony "according to the wishes of the high Chadian authorities" in the capital N'Djaména.
President Déby, in power since 2021, had previously said the cooperation agreements with France had become "completely obsolete" in light of "the political and geostrategic realities of our time".
French withdrawal across Sahel
French forces have already been forced to withdraw from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger in the wake of military coups, marking a decline in French influence in West Africa.
But Christophe Lemoine, spokesperson with France's Foreign Ministry, insists the closure of the Kossei base was "the natural outcome" of talks with Chad in the context of reconfiguring France's military presence on the African continent.
He underlined that France and Chad will continue to cooperate in several fields.
“It is absolutely not the end of cooperation with Chad in military terms," he told RFI, adding that bilateral cooperation – such as public development aid, economic cooperation, cultural cooperation, student exchanges – would also continue.
On Friday, however, Déby appeared to strike a different tone: "We are not breaking off our relationship with France but we are ending the military dimension of this cooperation," the leader said at the base, where only the Chadian flag is now flying.
France to reduce military presence in West and Central Africa
Chad 'not concerned' by Macron comments
Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron's comments to diplomats that African countries "forgot to say thank you" for France's decade-long deployment to fight an Islamist insurgency in the Sahel met with irritation among France's remaining African allies.
Chad's foreign affairs minister called the remarks "humiliating and unacceptable".
Lemoine insists Macron was “expressly referring to the operations that have been deployed in certain Sahel countries at the request of these states”.
“I’m thinking of the Barkhane and Serval missions, especially in Mali," he added.
French troops were deployed in Mali in 2013 to help in the fight against terrorism, at the request of Malian authorities.
"France lost 58 French soldiers in these operations. And I think that's what the President of the Republic was referring to. It was not a criticism addressed to the Chadians who were not concerned by these operations. I think we have to be precise about the situation and not mix things up".
Macron’s Africa 'reset' stumbles as leaders call out colonial overtones
Rwanda must withdraw
In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, heavy fighting between Rwandan-backed M23 fighters and Congolese government forces have led to several deaths and forced thousands to flee.
M23 claims to have taken control of Goma in East Kivu province and is advancing in South Kivu. It has vowed to march all the way to Kinshasa.
Lemoine described the situation as “very worrying” and “dramatic” for the civilian population, saying the situation had to end.
“From France’s perspective, the best way to end the situation is to find a diplomatic solution through dialogue between [Congolese] President Tshisekedi and [Rwanda’s] President Kagame, in order to put in place a plan for the full withdrawal of M23 troops from the Congolese territory.”
France has already called on Rwanda to stop its offensive and Lemoine reiterated its demand that Rwanda withdraw its troops citing the principle of respect for DRC's territorial sovereignty.
“North Kivu is Congolese territory and foreign troops must leave the Kivu area,” he said.
While Germany has suspended development aid to Rwanda in protest over the DRC crisis, Lemoine said France had “not yet” made a decision on whether to follow suit.
As for sanctions, he insisted that such decisions had to be made "either at the UN or EU level”.
