According to a statement relayed by the Burkina Faso media, the government would have given French troops from Operation Saber one month to leave Ouagadougou.
According to the Burkinabè newspaper Le Pays, it is now an "anti-colonialist wave", started in Mali, which "seems to have been emulated in neighboring Burkina Faso". The withdrawal of Barkhane's forces had been at the center of numerous discussions between Paris and Bamako last year. As soon as he came to power in Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahima Traoré had raised the possibility, for his country, of move towards "other partners" capable of effectively helping Burkina in the fight against terrorism. A way, already at the time, to kick France out of its borders?
In any case, this is what is taking shape. Because, according to a press release published by the media of Burkina Faso, the Saber force should leave Ouagadougou in a month at most. Installed near the capital of Burkina, the command post of Operation Saber has between 350 and 400 soldiers.
After the broadcast of this press release relayed by the media, Captain Traoré remained silent. However, the ultimatum seems to come from the new government. And the coming month could, as between Mali and France, give rise to numerous projections on both sides.
An open door to Russia?
But the transitional regime of Burkina Faso knows that it was difficult for it to do otherwise: if Operation Saber has several victories against terrorism to its credit, the security situation there is failing and the local populations remain, when they leave in the street, opposed to a French presence there. The last demonstrations of opposition to France date back only a few days.
It now remains to be seen whether this future withdrawal of French soldiers will mark the beginning of a long cooperation between Ouagadougou and Moscow. The Prime Minister of Burkina Faso recently visited Russia and the Ghanaian President assured that Wagner's paramilitaries were already deployed in Burkina.
On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke on the subject. The Head of State seems to be waiting for a sign from Captain Traoré. “I am waiting for the President of Transition, Traoré, to be able to speak, because I understood that the messages which had come out at this stage were of great confusion, this one being on the move outside the capital” , he said, assuring “to be very careful”.
Emmanuel Macron is therefore awaiting “clarifications from Mr. Traoré on this subject” and considers that he is entitled to think that his “Russian friends” are at the origin of a “manipulation” operation.