The President of Senegal confirms the end of the foreign military presence in 2025

In his New Year’s speech, Senegalese President Basserou Diomaye Faye confirmed “the end of the military presence of foreign countries in Senegal as of 2025.”

On November 28, Faye announced that France would be forced to close its military bases in Senegal.

Fay, who assumed his position in April 2024, said: “I have instructed the Minister of the Armed Forces to propose a new approach to cooperation in the field of defense and security, which leads – among other results – to ending the military presence of foreign countries in Senegal as of 2025.”

Thus, he sets for the first time a date for the closure of foreign military bases in this former French colony, which enjoys strong relations with the West, and France in particular.

The Senegalese President added that “all friends of Senegal will be treated as strategic partners, within the framework of open, diverse and contract-free cooperation.”

Fei won the elections after raising the banner of sovereignty and ending dependence on abroad.

On November 28, he announced in an interview with Agence France-Presse, conducted at the presidential palace, that the presence of French military bases in Senegal conflicts with his country’s sovereignty.

Sixty-four years after Senegal’s independence from France, Faye said in the interview: “Senegal is an independent country. It is a sovereign country, and sovereignty is not compatible with the presence of (foreign) military bases in a sovereign country.”