Burkina Faso is not “enemy” of the “French people”, said Captain Ibrahim Traoré, transitional president, following a coup d’état, in an interview broadcast Wednesday, September 06, 2023 by Radio television of Burkina (RTB, public.
“We are not enemies with the French people, it is the policy of those who lead France that poses a problem in Africa, so as long as a state is not in an imperialist spirit (…) there is no problem,” he said in the interview recorded on 31 August.
Burkina has been looking for new cooperation ever since. We have new partners who support us in terms of equipment and so on,’ he added, without naming them.
Burkina Faso’s Foreign Minister, Olivia Rouamba, on Monday expressed her country’s desire to “strengthen bilateral cooperation” with Iran, during a meeting in Tehran with President Ebrahim Raïssi.
A Russian delegation exchanged with Mr. Traoré last week in Ouagadougou, on issues of development and military cooperation and Captain Traoré went to Saint Petersburg in July for the Russia-Africa summit.
He reaffirmed his country’s support for Niger, the scene of a coup d’état on 26 July, with which Burkina shares the so-called “three-border” zone between Mali, Niger and Burkina, considered a hideout of jihadist groups.
