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The German head of state is in Senegal, accompanied by a large delegation of entrepreneurs. This is Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s first foreign visit since his recent re-election. The President of the FRG was received in the morning by Macky Sall, an interview devoted to economic opportunities and security issues.
With our correspondent in Dakar, Charlotte Idrac
« Senegal is a strong democracy and a haven of peace in West Africa », according to Frank-Walter Steinmeier. This is ” a key country “, adds the German president, who says he wants to give” a new impetus to relations between Dakar and Berlin.
« We are worried about the situation in Mali, Burkina Faso or even in the entire region, but this also has repercussions on the debates in Berlin about whether – and to what extent – Germany will still engage, for example in the within the Minusma, in Mali. This is a matter for the German Bundestag. And the conversations with you, Mr. Chairman, with the experts that we are going to lead tomorrow as well… All these expertises will be taken into account in Germany “, he insisted on underlining.
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For his part, President Macky Sall, currently at the head of the African Union, underlined ” the expectation vis-à-vis Germany on its participation in Mali and more broadly in the Sahel.
« We are convinced that we need the German presence in Minusma. We need the maintenance of the Minusma in Mali. We need European forces still in Mali, including even French forces “, for his part affirmed the Senegalese president. Macky Sall also hailed ” the tolerance of the German model for the integration of minorities ».
At the end of the day, Frank-Walter Steinmeier presided over the ceremony to lay the first stone of the future headquarters of the Goethe-Institut in Dakar. On the program, Tuesday, the German president will notably visit the construction site of the future vaccine factory and will attend the inauguration ceremony of the new stadium in Senegal.