French President, Emmanuel Macron, has lashed out at African leaders over what he described as "ungratefulness" of the leaders of the continent.
He said this while speaking on the development in the region.
" We had a relationship based on security, it was in fact two-fold. On one hand, it was our engagement against terrorism since 2013. We were right, I think someone forgot to say thank you. It’s okay it will come with time.”
“Ungratefulness, I know too well is a disease that cannot be transmitted to men but I say this for all African heads of states who have not had courage in the face of public opinion.”
“None of them would be a sovereign country today if the French army wasn’t deployed in the region and my heart goes out to all of our soldiers, some of them whom have given their lives and fought for years.”
“We did the right thing. We left because there were coup De’tats. We were there at the request of sovereign states who asked France to come.”
“From the moments there were coup d’etats and the people said their aims were no longer fighting terrorism, if it was not this or that, France longer belonged there.”
It would be recalled that in December 2023, Niger republic expelled French troops from the country.
This development occured after a military takeover.
After President Emmanuel Macron's vocal condemnation of the coup in Niger and his public support for Bazoum, still detained in his presidential residence, Niger's new military rulers opted for a radical change of policy, demanding that the French pull out.
In November 2024, Niger Republic authorities expelled a French aid organisation, the Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (Acted) from operating in the country, in a move that further strained relations with France.
Chad, Senegal, Mali and other African countries have also asked French troops to leave their countries in the recent time.