Ivory Coast: French forces prepare to withdraw within two weeks
French forces in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) are preparing to hand over their military base to the country’s army on February 20.
The French forces will handover their military base during a ceremony attended by the defense ministers of the two countries.
On December 31, 2024, Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara announced in a New Year’s speech that the French military base in the country would be handed over in 2025, without specifying a specific date.
The expected French military withdrawal from Côte d’Ivoire comes after the completion of the withdrawal of French forces from Chad, while it’s expected to withdraw from Senegal by the end of this year.
Before these withdrawals, French forces had been expelled from Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, following disagreements between the military leaders who came to power in these countries following military coups, and the French authorities who adopted positions opposed to those coups.
