France’s defense minister says the country would retain 80 military personnel in Ivory Coast

Amid a reduction in its soldiers throughout West and Central Africa, France announced on Thursday that it will retain 80 military personnel in Ivory Coast, primarily for training purposes, as it turned over control of a military post in the commercial city.

French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu declared that his country was “not disappearing” during the ceremony held in Abidjan on Thursday.

The 80 military members would serve as “the basis of a joint detachment… depending on the needs you express, needs that will be constantly reassessed, particularly in terms of training,” he stated.

After Laurent Gbagbo, the previous president, refused to accept defeat in the 2010 election, President Alassane Ouattara took office in 2011 with the assistance of French forces that had been stationed in Ivory Coast for decades.

During a period when Russia has been gaining influence, sources told Reuters in late November that France was thinking of cutting its military deployment in West and Central African nations, notably Ivory Coast, from about 2,200 personnel to 600.

In December, Ouattara announced that French troops would leave Ivory Coast.

When the government of Chad, a crucial Western ally in the war against Islamic terrorists in the region, abruptly terminated their defense cooperation agreement, France started its military departure from the country in December.

After military takeovers and the escalation of anti-French sentiment, France had already evacuated its troops from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.