France intends to withdraw troops from Burkina Faso within 30 days. Agence France Presse (AFP) reported this on Wednesday, citing a spokesman for France's foreign ministry.
"On Tuesday, we have formally received from Burkina Faso a decision to terminate the 2018 agreement on the presence of French troops in the country. According to the terms of the agreement, the denunciation will take effect within one month following receipt of the written notice. We will comply with the terms and comply with this request," the agency quoted a spokesperson as saying.
Earlier, Minister of Communication, Culture, Arts and Tourism of Burkina Faso, the official representative of the government of Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo reported that the country's authorities denounced the agreement with France in the field of defense, demanding the withdrawal of French troops within 30 days, but it was not about the termination of diplomatic relations with Paris. According to him, this demand is not connected with any specific event. He gave the reason for this decision as "the desire of the country's authorities to be in charge of liberation of our territory from terrorists."
Since last summer, there have been mass demonstrations in Burkina Faso demanding the withdrawal of French troops. The last one was held in the capital of Ouagadougou on January 20.
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Based on materials from TASS