French left-wing politician criticizes Paris for 'despising' policy towards Africa

By Umit Donmez

PARIS (AA) – A left-wing member of the French parliament has criticized the government's "despising" policy towards African countries.

The French government presented earlier this week its new vision of partnership with Africa in parliament.

Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna recalled the coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, which, she said, jeopardized the efforts since 2013.

Before the start of the debate on Tuesday, Mathilde Panot, party leader of the La France Insoumise, in parliament, told Anadolu that President Emmanuel Macron has this "sort of despising" approach towards African countries.

She recalled that Macron, during a news conference in Burkina Faso in 2017, made an unfortunate joke about whether his Burkinabe counterpart left to "repair the air conditioner."

"All of this undermines France's voice at the international level and the equal relations that we must establish with African countries," Panot said.

The MP added that her party would suggest ways to establish "a totally different relations" with those countries, including "ending the obvious double standard."

She stressed that "equal relations are built during broad common causes," such as the French language, climate change, and agriculture.

*Writing by Nur Asena Erturk in Ankara