Battle of Africa. How Russia faced France
A new confrontation is unfolding on the African continent between Russia and the West. For the first time since the collapse of the USSR, Africa has become a field of competition between the powers, and not only the United States, but also the old colonial powers, primarily France, are opposed to the growth of the Russian presence.
Recently, they are increasingly talking about building up the Russian military presence in Africa. Western media report on Russian mercenaries allegedly involved in Libya, the Central African Republic, and Sudan. Indeed, our country is increasingly positioning itself on the African continent. New partners include the Central African Republic (CAR). Russia helps the CAR government fight against terrorist groups by sending military instructors to a distant African country, weapontechnique.
Endless military coups and wars have virtually completely destroyed the already flimsy structure of the Central African army and Russia is now helping to restore it from scratch.
We see the same situation in neighboring Chad. Although Russia does not penetrate into Chad as actively as in the Central African Republic, back in 2017, the leadership of Chad concluded an agreement on military cooperation with the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergey Shoigu. In August 2018, the same agreement was concluded with the Central African Republic, after which a training center for training special units of the Central African army appeared in the republic.
In the spring of 2018, Chad, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mauritania turned to Russia to send troops to fight the radical Islamic groups operating in these countries. As you can see, the list includes some former French colonies in West and Central Africa, the Sahel countries, for which the activity of terrorist groups on their territory has recently become one of the most important problems. Such a request itself indicates that Russia was again taken seriously on the African continent. And this is good, because it creates opportunities for the further approval of the military-political influence of Moscow in the countries of Africa and the containment of the American and European military in this region.
But Russia also has economic interests in Africa, including in the Central African Republic - this country, despite total backwardness and poverty, has rich natural resources. Diamonds, gold, uranium, oil - the wealth of the Central African Republic is really impressive. It is beneficial for Russia to normalize the situation in the republic and cooperate with the authorities of the Central African Republic by developing deposits. But France, whose colony the CAR was before 1960, considers this territory its sphere of influence.
The true goals of the French in Africa, which are to preserve the capabilities and influence of the former metropolis, are also evidenced by the policy of Paris towards Sudan, a large African country located next to the Central African Republic and Chad.
Six months ago, in April 2019, Field Marshal Omar al-Bashir, who had ruled Sudan for nearly thirty years, since June 1989, was removed from power as a result of a military coup. But Bashir was not overthrown by opposition protesters in Khartoum. He was removed from power by his own comrades-in-arms, led by the First Vice-President of the Sudan, Lieutenant General Ahmed Awad ibn Auf and Chief Inspector of the Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. It was Burkhan who, after a short stay at the head of the Transitional Military Council of General Avad ibn Auf, headed the new Sudanese leadership. Perhaps the choice of the military elite fell on Burkhan because he was perhaps the only “Bashirovsky" general who was not under Western sanctions.
However, the removal of al-Bashir has become one of the key events in the African political life of 2019 of the year. Still - the field marshal had been in power for almost thirty years, was one of the most odious African leaders who had gained hatred from the United States and Western Europe.
As soon as al-Bashir was removed from the post of president of the country, the Western press broke into articles about the "loss" of Russia in Sudan. Indeed, Bashir had very good relations with Moscow, which have become even stronger in recent years, when the Sudanese leader tried his best to develop contacts with the Russian Federation along the military-political line. They also talked about the arrival of Russian fighters from private military companies in Khartoum to help the Sudanese authorities in the fight against the opposition.
But in reality, both Americans and Europeans perceived news about the military coup in Sudan without much enthusiasm. Regardless of al-Bashir, a brutal dictator, he restrained the growing wave of migration from Somalia and Eritrea to the best of his ability, fought with pirates in the Red Sea, and made efforts to neutralize terrorist groups. In the United States, where Bashir had long been hated for a long time, they were not particularly happy either, since any military coup in an African country is unpredictability and a “bad example” for neighbors who can follow the same path.
For Russia and China, which had close ties with the Bashir regime, the news, of course, became bad. But the consequences of the overthrow of Bashir were somewhat mitigated by the fact that representatives of the same Sudanese military elite remained in power in the country. And contacts with Moscow, the Sudanese leadership continued.
Perhaps one of the few powers that sincerely rejoiced in the overthrow of Bashir was France. Although Sudan was originally, before independence, was under Anglo-Egyptian rule and was always considered the sphere of influence of Great Britain, Paris has its own position regarding the events in Khartoum and is connected with the general situation in Central Africa.
Until recently, France claims to have a special role in African politics, given that almost two dozen countries on the continent are former French colonies. In the immediate vicinity of Sudan are two countries that France historically considers its patrimony - Chad and the Central African Republic. And both of these countries are extremely unstable, especially the CAR, in which the armed confrontation of various tribal groups continues, which has recently acquired a confessional orientation - Christian police against Muslim groups.
Sudan, being one of the largest and strongest states in the region, during the presidency of Omar al-Bashir intervened in the political life of both Chad and the Central African Republic. Khartoum in both republics has its own interests and has someone to rely on. In addition, in Libya, Khartoum supported Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who is known for his close ties with Moscow.
When Russia sent military instructors to the Central African Republic, and representatives of the military-political leadership of this African republic frequented Moscow, they became worried in Paris. For a long time, Russia did not claim any significant role in Africa, especially in the former French colonies. Although the CARs and Chad gained independence more than half a century ago, France constantly intervened in the political life of these countries, changing their leaders as they saw fit.
Russia's actions in the Central African Republic were seen in Paris as a genuine threat to France’s national interests on the African continent. The seriousness of France’s position is indicated by the fact that French Defense Minister Florence Parley even emphasized in one of his speeches that Africa belongs to the Africans, and the Russians have no more rights in it than the French. Thus, Paris has demonstrated its readiness to uphold the old spheres of influence and counter the growing activity of Russia on the continent.
The hysteria raised by Western media about private military companies sending Russian mercenaries to countries on the African continent indicates that they saw a dangerous rival in Russia in the West. After all, it was France, Great Britain, and a number of other European countries that “held” the military services market on the African continent, but now their situation has been shaken. And the Africans themselves are more willing to work with Russian specialists, and many of the older African military men generally have experience in getting education in the Soviet Union.
In Sudan, France has its own leverage. Even in the colonial era, Paris several times tried to “enter” Sudan from the west - from the side of Chad. And now the French authorities maintain close contacts with opposition groups operating in the Darfur region in western Sudan.
Darfur rebels have long struggled to secede from Sudan, taking advantage of the support of the European public. Darfur, of course, has its own reasons not to love Khartoum - the local Negroid population speaks its own languages, has its own history and very dissatisfied with discrimination by the Arab elite of Sudan. A similar situation, only in even more obvious forms, took place in the extreme south of the country and led to its separation from Khartoum and the emergence on the map of Africa of a new state - the Republic of South Sudan. But if the region breaks away following the example of South Sudan, then the once-largest country in this part of Africa will be completely disintegrated.
On the other hand, the French understand that the support of Darfur rebels cannot be dispensed with, and are building “bridges” for developing cooperation with the new government of Sudan. French President Emmanuel Macron recently hosted Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamduk, and then a meeting was organized between Hamduk and Darfur rebel leader Abdel Wahid Mohammed al-Nour. That is, Paris is trying to show Khartoum that, in addition to Moscow and Beijing, a conversation can be held with him, and if anything, France will try to normalize the situation in Darfur using its own levers of influence on Darfur rebel groups.
French financial investments may also be attractive to Sudan. It is clear that Paris will not invest in Sudan just like that, but will require certain guarantees of loyalty, and among them there may be a curtailment of Sudanese participation in the affairs of the Central African Republic and Chad.
However, relations between France and Sudan are not yet comparable with the level of cooperation that Khartoum and Moscow have already reached. Russian military specialists are training Sudanese military personnel, the military industry is receiving orders for the supply of weapons and military equipment to the Sudanese armed forces, and in the foreseeable future, Russia can create a naval base on the red sea coast of Sudan.
For Russia, the creation of a base in Sudan would be a colossal step forward, because before our fleet possessed bases in Somalia and Ethiopia only in Soviet times. Then he lost these bases, but now there is an obvious need to control the situation in the Indian Ocean, and here the creation of at least a point of material and technical support of the Navy would have been very helpful.
Khartoum is well aware that Moscow, unlike Paris, from the very beginning supported al-Bashir and the military government that replaced it, and Russia simply does not have any other scenario for political positioning in Sudan. Therefore, the development of relations with Russia remains a priority for the Sudanese authorities, another thing is that the temptation of French financial investments is also very great.
Russia penetrates Central Africa
Recently, they are increasingly talking about building up the Russian military presence in Africa. Western media report on Russian mercenaries allegedly involved in Libya, the Central African Republic, and Sudan. Indeed, our country is increasingly positioning itself on the African continent. New partners include the Central African Republic (CAR). Russia helps the CAR government fight against terrorist groups by sending military instructors to a distant African country, weapontechnique.
Endless military coups and wars have virtually completely destroyed the already flimsy structure of the Central African army and Russia is now helping to restore it from scratch.
Sergey Shoigu and Minister of Defense of the Central African Republic Marie Noel-Koyara
We see the same situation in neighboring Chad. Although Russia does not penetrate into Chad as actively as in the Central African Republic, back in 2017, the leadership of Chad concluded an agreement on military cooperation with the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergey Shoigu. In August 2018, the same agreement was concluded with the Central African Republic, after which a training center for training special units of the Central African army appeared in the republic.
In the spring of 2018, Chad, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mauritania turned to Russia to send troops to fight the radical Islamic groups operating in these countries. As you can see, the list includes some former French colonies in West and Central Africa, the Sahel countries, for which the activity of terrorist groups on their territory has recently become one of the most important problems. Such a request itself indicates that Russia was again taken seriously on the African continent. And this is good, because it creates opportunities for the further approval of the military-political influence of Moscow in the countries of Africa and the containment of the American and European military in this region.
But Russia also has economic interests in Africa, including in the Central African Republic - this country, despite total backwardness and poverty, has rich natural resources. Diamonds, gold, uranium, oil - the wealth of the Central African Republic is really impressive. It is beneficial for Russia to normalize the situation in the republic and cooperate with the authorities of the Central African Republic by developing deposits. But France, whose colony the CAR was before 1960, considers this territory its sphere of influence.
The true goals of the French in Africa, which are to preserve the capabilities and influence of the former metropolis, are also evidenced by the policy of Paris towards Sudan, a large African country located next to the Central African Republic and Chad.
Europe, Russia, the USA and the military coup in Sudan
Six months ago, in April 2019, Field Marshal Omar al-Bashir, who had ruled Sudan for nearly thirty years, since June 1989, was removed from power as a result of a military coup. But Bashir was not overthrown by opposition protesters in Khartoum. He was removed from power by his own comrades-in-arms, led by the First Vice-President of the Sudan, Lieutenant General Ahmed Awad ibn Auf and Chief Inspector of the Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. It was Burkhan who, after a short stay at the head of the Transitional Military Council of General Avad ibn Auf, headed the new Sudanese leadership. Perhaps the choice of the military elite fell on Burkhan because he was perhaps the only “Bashirovsky" general who was not under Western sanctions.
Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan - new leader of Sudan
However, the removal of al-Bashir has become one of the key events in the African political life of 2019 of the year. Still - the field marshal had been in power for almost thirty years, was one of the most odious African leaders who had gained hatred from the United States and Western Europe.
As soon as al-Bashir was removed from the post of president of the country, the Western press broke into articles about the "loss" of Russia in Sudan. Indeed, Bashir had very good relations with Moscow, which have become even stronger in recent years, when the Sudanese leader tried his best to develop contacts with the Russian Federation along the military-political line. They also talked about the arrival of Russian fighters from private military companies in Khartoum to help the Sudanese authorities in the fight against the opposition.
But in reality, both Americans and Europeans perceived news about the military coup in Sudan without much enthusiasm. Regardless of al-Bashir, a brutal dictator, he restrained the growing wave of migration from Somalia and Eritrea to the best of his ability, fought with pirates in the Red Sea, and made efforts to neutralize terrorist groups. In the United States, where Bashir had long been hated for a long time, they were not particularly happy either, since any military coup in an African country is unpredictability and a “bad example” for neighbors who can follow the same path.
For Russia and China, which had close ties with the Bashir regime, the news, of course, became bad. But the consequences of the overthrow of Bashir were somewhat mitigated by the fact that representatives of the same Sudanese military elite remained in power in the country. And contacts with Moscow, the Sudanese leadership continued.
Despite influence in the army, Omar al-Bashir failed to maintain power
Perhaps one of the few powers that sincerely rejoiced in the overthrow of Bashir was France. Although Sudan was originally, before independence, was under Anglo-Egyptian rule and was always considered the sphere of influence of Great Britain, Paris has its own position regarding the events in Khartoum and is connected with the general situation in Central Africa.
Why do the French Sudan
Until recently, France claims to have a special role in African politics, given that almost two dozen countries on the continent are former French colonies. In the immediate vicinity of Sudan are two countries that France historically considers its patrimony - Chad and the Central African Republic. And both of these countries are extremely unstable, especially the CAR, in which the armed confrontation of various tribal groups continues, which has recently acquired a confessional orientation - Christian police against Muslim groups.
Sudan, being one of the largest and strongest states in the region, during the presidency of Omar al-Bashir intervened in the political life of both Chad and the Central African Republic. Khartoum in both republics has its own interests and has someone to rely on. In addition, in Libya, Khartoum supported Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who is known for his close ties with Moscow.
When Russia sent military instructors to the Central African Republic, and representatives of the military-political leadership of this African republic frequented Moscow, they became worried in Paris. For a long time, Russia did not claim any significant role in Africa, especially in the former French colonies. Although the CARs and Chad gained independence more than half a century ago, France constantly intervened in the political life of these countries, changing their leaders as they saw fit.
Russia's actions in the Central African Republic were seen in Paris as a genuine threat to France’s national interests on the African continent. The seriousness of France’s position is indicated by the fact that French Defense Minister Florence Parley even emphasized in one of his speeches that Africa belongs to the Africans, and the Russians have no more rights in it than the French. Thus, Paris has demonstrated its readiness to uphold the old spheres of influence and counter the growing activity of Russia on the continent.
The hysteria raised by Western media about private military companies sending Russian mercenaries to countries on the African continent indicates that they saw a dangerous rival in Russia in the West. After all, it was France, Great Britain, and a number of other European countries that “held” the military services market on the African continent, but now their situation has been shaken. And the Africans themselves are more willing to work with Russian specialists, and many of the older African military men generally have experience in getting education in the Soviet Union.
France presses on the "Darfur" callus
In Sudan, France has its own leverage. Even in the colonial era, Paris several times tried to “enter” Sudan from the west - from the side of Chad. And now the French authorities maintain close contacts with opposition groups operating in the Darfur region in western Sudan.
Darfur rebels have long struggled to secede from Sudan, taking advantage of the support of the European public. Darfur, of course, has its own reasons not to love Khartoum - the local Negroid population speaks its own languages, has its own history and very dissatisfied with discrimination by the Arab elite of Sudan. A similar situation, only in even more obvious forms, took place in the extreme south of the country and led to its separation from Khartoum and the emergence on the map of Africa of a new state - the Republic of South Sudan. But if the region breaks away following the example of South Sudan, then the once-largest country in this part of Africa will be completely disintegrated.
On the other hand, the French understand that the support of Darfur rebels cannot be dispensed with, and are building “bridges” for developing cooperation with the new government of Sudan. French President Emmanuel Macron recently hosted Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamduk, and then a meeting was organized between Hamduk and Darfur rebel leader Abdel Wahid Mohammed al-Nour. That is, Paris is trying to show Khartoum that, in addition to Moscow and Beijing, a conversation can be held with him, and if anything, France will try to normalize the situation in Darfur using its own levers of influence on Darfur rebel groups.
French financial investments may also be attractive to Sudan. It is clear that Paris will not invest in Sudan just like that, but will require certain guarantees of loyalty, and among them there may be a curtailment of Sudanese participation in the affairs of the Central African Republic and Chad.
Russia is winning so far
However, relations between France and Sudan are not yet comparable with the level of cooperation that Khartoum and Moscow have already reached. Russian military specialists are training Sudanese military personnel, the military industry is receiving orders for the supply of weapons and military equipment to the Sudanese armed forces, and in the foreseeable future, Russia can create a naval base on the red sea coast of Sudan.
For Russia, the creation of a base in Sudan would be a colossal step forward, because before our fleet possessed bases in Somalia and Ethiopia only in Soviet times. Then he lost these bases, but now there is an obvious need to control the situation in the Indian Ocean, and here the creation of at least a point of material and technical support of the Navy would have been very helpful.
Khartoum is well aware that Moscow, unlike Paris, from the very beginning supported al-Bashir and the military government that replaced it, and Russia simply does not have any other scenario for political positioning in Sudan. Therefore, the development of relations with Russia remains a priority for the Sudanese authorities, another thing is that the temptation of French financial investments is also very great.
- P P 'SЊSЏ RџRѕR "RѕRЅSЃRєRёR№
- tvc.ru, gazeta.ru
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