France hands over to Senegal a communications station it had operated for 65 years
On Tuesday, France handed over to Senegal a communications station in the town of Rufisque, near the capital.
The station had been occupied by French forces since 1960, the year the country gained independence from French colonial rule.
A statement issued by the French Embassy in Senegal explained that this delivery comes within the framework of the commitments made during the work of the French-Senegalese Joint Committee on May 16, and within the framework of the military cooperation treaty concluded on April 18, 2012.
The statement indicated that the French forces are expected to complete their withdrawal from all military installations in Senegal by the end of this month, following their earlier withdrawal from the Marshal, Saint-Exupéry, and Contre-Amiral-Bruté bases.
A day before the handover of the station, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Afai and French President Emmanuel Macron held talks on the sidelines of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville, Spain.
Afai announced that the discussions focused on cooperation between the two countries, in addition to “regional and international issues of common interest”.
For his part, French president Emmanuel Macron affirmed that the Franco-Senegalese partnership is undergoing a “radical renewal,” adding that he is closely following the “economic, security, defense, and cultural partnerships” between the two countries with his Senegalese counterpart.
Macron praised Senegal’s commitment to regional stability and to responding to major global challenges.
In June 2024, in Paris, the two presidents expressed their shared desire to build a renewed relationship based on sovereignty and mutual respect.
Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Afai had previously stated in an interview with Agence France-Presse in late November 2024 that the presence of French military bases in his country conflicted with “national sovereignty,” adding that French authorities should “consider establishing a partnership devoid of this military presence”.
The number of personnel working at French military bases in Senegal is approximately 162, and the number could reach between 400 and 500 when including workers from companies contracted with these bases to provide some logistical and technical services.
