Burkina Faso Leader Denies Diplomatic Split from France

Paris recently recalled its ambassador to Burkina Faso after agreeing to demands from the ruling military junta to pull out its troops, RFI reports..

In his first public comments since then, Captain Ibrahim Traore insisted Burkina had not broken ties with France, its former colonial power.

"The end of diplomatic agreements, no!" Traore said in a television interview with Burkinabe journalists on Friday February 3, 2023. "There is no break in diplomatic relations or hatred against a particular state."

Officials in Paris anounced that France was recalling its ambassador from the country, after agreeing to demands from the ruling military junta to pull out troops. Burkina said it had given France one month to withdraw its contingent of 400 troops stationed in the country, to which Paris agreed.

For several months, the ruling junta has made known its dissatisfaction with the French Ambassador, Luc Hallade. In December, junta officials wrote to Paris, demanding Hallade's departure, claiming that he had publicly criticised the country's collapsing security apparatus.

Ambassador Hallade has been in place in Ouagadougou since the summer of 2019 The promised withdrawal marks the latest scaling down of France's military presence in Africa. The junta in neighbouring Mali has also insisted on the departure of French troops. Last year, President Emmanuel Macron brought France's decade long anti-jihadist mission to an end.