France and CAR adopt roadmap to "strengthen" cooperation between nations

Thursday, April 18, 2024    10:23 am 

                                                 President of France, Emmanuel Macron CIPRA

Paris - French President Emmanuel Macron and his Central African counterpart, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, adopted on Wednesday, in Paris, a roadmap to establish a constructive partnership and relaunch cooperation between the two nations, reported the Élysée.

This meeting, at the Élysée Presidential Palace - the second between the two heads of state in just over six months - aimed to put an end to a rupture between the two countries, whose bilateral relations deteriorated sharply after the rapprochement between Bangui and Russia , in 2018.

"The objective is to create the framework for a constructive partnership that respects state sovereignty in order to contribute to stability, reinforce the broadest possible national cohesion and support the economic and social development" of the Central African Republic, declared the presidency French.

In recent years, France has denounced the growing influence of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner in the Central African Republic (CAR), accusing it of abuse and plunder of natural resources.

Paris also condemned disinformation campaigns that have fueled anti-French sentiment at home and abroad, particularly in the Sahel.

The President of the RCA, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, amended the Constitution in July 2023, in a referendum boycotted by the opposition, so that he could run for a third term in 2025.

Elected in 2016 in the midst of a civil war, Touadéra was re-elected in 2020 under conditions contested by the opposition, in a country where the vast majority of the territory was controlled by rebels, which his army repelled with the help of Moscow and the massive intervention of mercenaries. by Wagner.

CAR is one of the French-speaking African countries where Paris has seen its influence challenged by Russia in recent years. After her, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger also distanced themselves from the former colonial power. J.M.