Burkina Faso: Paris recalls its ambassador "to conduct consultations"

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Thursday the recall of its ambassador to Burkina Faso "to conduct consultations" the day after the announcement of the departure of the country of French special forces within "one month".

"In the context of the latest developments in Burkina Faso, we have decided to recall our ambassador to Paris, to hold consultations on the state and prospects of our bilateral cooperation," the ministry told AFP.

Luc Hallade had been stationed in Ouagadougou since the summer of 2019.

On Monday, the Burkinabè government announced the denunciation of the 2018 agreement relating to the status of the French forces present in this country.

This denunciation was "formally" received Tuesday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Quai d'Orsay announced on Wednesday.

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France will withdraw its troops from Burkina Faso within "a month", the French Foreign Ministry confirmed on Wednesday.

400 special forces housed in Burkina

“Tuesday (…) we formally received the denunciation, by the Burkinabè government, of the 2018 agreement relating to the status of the French forces present in this country.

In accordance with the terms of the agreement, the denunciation takes effect one month after the receipt of the written notification", declared to AFP the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, assuring that France "respect (has) the terms of this agreement by complying with this request”.

Burkina currently hosts a contingent of nearly 400 French special forces, the Saber force.

The latter will have left the country "by the end of February" and the removal of all equipment should be completed "at the end of April", a source familiar with the matter told AFP.

In December, the Burkinabè junta asked Paris to replace Ambassador Luc Hallade, accusing him of having publicly reported on the deterioration of the security situation in the country, plagued by jihadist violence.

But the ambassador remained at his post.

Then, the visit of the Secretary of State to the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, on January 10 had hinted at a possibility of appeasement between the two countries.