Senegal's Prime Minister's violent attack on France and Europe

The setting was the University of Dakar, and the occasion was a conference on the past, present and future of Africa-Europe relations. The audience was made up of thousands of enthusiastic students, who greeted the speech of the country's current strongman with enthusiasm and even gestures of incitement to revenge. As leader of the Senegalese African Patriots for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (PASTEF) party, Sonko was the candidate to run for the presidency of the Republic, but the previous president, Macky Sall, his great adversary, not only had him imprisoned but also disqualified him. His place would be taken by his deputy, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who was also imprisoned and released just weeks before the elections, which he won by a landslide in the first round. And, predictably, the new president appointed his own party leader as prime minister.

In his long and highly political speech, Sonko accused the French president not only of having been openly hostile to the Senegalese opposition during Macky Sall's mandate, but also of having encouraged the "repression and persecution of dissidents", thus holding him jointly responsible for the dozens of deaths and hundreds of arrests repressed during all the demonstrations against Sall's desire to remain in power.

Opening the angle of his accusations, Ousmane Sonko festered the wounds of the "colonialism" exercised by France, taking the opportunity to blame Europe and the West for having been an active part of this colonialism in the past, but also for "having supported in the present by their approving silence the incitement to the persecution and execution of Senegalese who had committed no other crime than that of having a political project".

After expressing his disappointment "for having believed Macron when he presented his supposed new African doctrine, whose axis would be to disavow and not help any authoritarian and corrupt regime", Sonko addressed the current situation of relations between the Elysée Palace and Senegal, as well as with the countries of the Sahel.

In this chapter, the head of the Senegalese government warned of his firm opposition to the former colonial power, namely France, "continuing to manage and decisively influence the country's politics and economy", before pointing out that, from now on, cooperation, especially in the monetary and security fields, can only be based on respect for the country's sovereignty.

He also issued a warning on military cooperation: "We must ask ourselves why the French army still benefits from military bases installed in our countries, and what impact this presence has on our sovereignty and our strategic autonomy. I reiterate here and now Senegal's desire to stand on its own two feet, and this is incompatible with the permanent presence of foreign military bases".

This more than veiled invitation for the French armed forces to leave the country also served Sonko to express his solidarity with neighbouring Sahel countries that have experienced coups d'état, the first consequence of which has also been the expulsion of French and other forces, including Spanish ones. Thus, with regard to the political upheavals in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger since 2020, the Senegalese leader did not mince his words either: "Those who today condemn regimes considered military or dictatorial are nevertheless inclined to turn to other countries that are not democratic, as long as it is in their own interest to negotiate supplies of oil or other raw materials". Concluding this section of his speech, Sonko disqualified the sanctions agreed by the EU against these countries now ruled by military juntas, stating that "we will not abandon our brothers in the Sahel".

Finally, to make matters worse, Ouman Sonko attacked Western civilisation and culture as a whole, accusing it of wanting to impose its thoughts and customs, with particular emphasis on homosexuality, which "because they are contrary to our traditional values can become a new casus belli". In addition to reaffirming that Senegal will reinforce its own values - homosexuality is punishable in the country's penal code by one to five years in prison - Sonko declared it unacceptable for the entire continent that Western powers make trade or financial agreements conditional on the acceptance of their own values, "flagrantly opposed to ours".

It is worth noting that the leader of the French far left, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, was a privileged witness to Sonko's violent requisition, who honoured him with full honours, and with whom he appeared at a joint press conference, in which the head of the Senegalese government once again accused France of 'stigmatising' the Muslim religion by preventing those who practise it from dressing as they wish, in reference to the ban on the Islamic veil as it is considered a religious symbol.

Sonko's speech, which was broadcast live across the country and widely reported throughout Africa, clearly marks a new stage in relations with France and the EU. Whether it will be for the better remains to be seen.