French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday that France would end its Barkhane anti-jihadist mission in Africa after more than a decade, promising that a new strategy would be developed in collaboration with African partners.
“I have decided, in consultation with our partners, to make the end of the Barkhane operation official today,” Macron said in a keynote speech on military policy. The move was a “result of what we’ve seen” in recent months, and a new strategy would be developed within the next six months.”Our military assistance to African countries will continue, but on new terms that we have agreed upon with them,” Macron said. He stated that future strategy would be based on much closer collaboration with African armies in order to make France’s own deployment lighter and more dynamic.