Ivory Coast’s Ouattara says French-led withdrawal from Mali ‘creates a void’

Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara granted an exclusive interview to FRANCE 24 and RFI ahead of an EU-African Union summit in Brussels. He criticised the planned departure of French and European troops from Mali, saying it « creates a void ». Ouattara added that it was the responsibility of domestic African armies to « solve problems in their own countries. That’s our approach and we’ll make sure that that happens [… ] even it means that we have to spend 2, 3, 4 percent of GDP on military expenditures ».