PARIS (Reuters) – France supports its ambassador in Burkina Faso, said French Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna, after the French government said it had received a letter from the Burkinabe authorities in December requesting the departure of Paris’ ambassador from Burkina Faso.
“I would like to express my support and our support for our ambassador and for all the embassy staff, who are doing a remarkable job in conditions which, as you know, are difficult,” Colonna told LCI TV.
The French foreign ministry said earlier this week that it had received a letter from the Burkinabe authorities in December requesting the departure of France’s ambassador from Burkina Faso – a move the ministry called “not standard practice.”
Burkina Faso is a former French colony in West Africa where France maintains strong ties and has special forces stationed.
Protests by opponents of the French military presence have surged there this year, partly linked to perceptions that France has not done enough to tackle an Islamist insurgency that has spread in recent years from neighbouring Mali.
(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
