Foreign policy: Baerbock: Autocrats are exploiting Europe’s mistakes in Africa

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wants to promote partnerships on an equal footing with African states in the competition with Russia and China. Autocrats are increasingly reaching for rights and influence, the Green politician criticized on Monday evening in a speech at the Goethe Institute in the Senegalese capital Dakar, with a view to Moscow and Beijing. “In doing so, they are also trying to exploit the wounds that Europe has left in the world, especially here in Africa,” Baerbock added.

If Russia does that and at the same time wages an imperial war, it is grotesque. “But we in Germany, as the so-called ‘West’, must also ask, even if it is deeply unfair from our point of view: Why is this communication taking hold?”, the Foreign Minister pointed out. We must deal with the perception in many countries that Europe is only concerned with creating dependency rather than having a say. We must make offers of cooperation from which both sides benefit, said Baerbock.

Baerbock maintains important European partnerships in the region

The minister gave the speech on the grounds of the new Goethe Institute in Dakar. Sustainability and climate protection were a priority in the new building. In addition to language courses, the main topics are decolonization, the development of the region and the cultural and creative industries. The total cost is just under 4 million euros.

Against the backdrop of the crises in the Sahel region, Baerbock is continuing her visit to West Africa this Tuesday in Ivory Coast. Consultations with President Alassane Ouattara and Foreign Minister Léon Kacou Adom are planned in Abidjan, the seat of government of Ivory Coast.

Baerbock receives training in the fight against terrorism

The Foreign Minister plans to learn about the training of military and security forces at an international academy for combating terrorism about 35 kilometers outside of Abidjan. Among other things, she will be shown the simulated liberation of a village in the Sahel from terrorists.

Germany is contributing 2.5 million euros to the financing of the facility’s infrastructure and has contributed money for a jetty, for example. The academy trains specialists from the civil, police and military sectors, focusing on anti-terror tactics and hostage rescue. The German Federal Police’s special unit GSG9 also trains there regularly.

Concern about the spread of Islamist terror is increasing

Ivory Coast, located on the Gulf of Guinea, is the economic heavyweight of French-speaking West Africa with around 30 million inhabitants, especially as the world’s largest cocoa producer. Like its neighbors Ghana, Benin and Togo, the country is threatened by the spillover of Islamist terrorism from Mali and Burkina Faso, where the terrorist groups are spreading particularly in the border areas.

While France wants to reduce its troop numbers in the country and at other bases in the region, the USA is strengthening its military presence there to support the protection of the coastal states. After the withdrawal from Niger, a new US base in the Ivory Coast is also being discussed, according to media reports.

Political rifts in the region

Baerbock is visiting Ivory Coast, one of the most important partners and the largest democracy in French-speaking West Africa. This should also be a signal to the coup governments in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, who want to leave the Ecowas regional bloc and are pushing for the division of the region in economic and security policy terms. The beneficiary is Russia, which is offering itself to them as an anti-colonialist and military partner, while former anti-terror partners and even UN troops have to give way.

Fear of further military coups

Even in the largely democratic Ivory Coast, many are wondering why 82-year-old President Alassane Ouattara is serving a third term in office, contrary to the constitution, and is flirting with the idea of ​​a fourth, without any international criticism. Along the coast, observers are growing concerned about a possible next military coup, after six former French colonies in West and Central Africa experienced coups within four years.