in Cameroon, Emmanuel Macron plays the card of humility

For his first trip to his second term on the African continent, Emmanuel Macron started with Cameroon, arriving Monday, July 25 in the evening. In a country dominated for 40 years by the same president, 89-year-old Paul Biya, the French president did not want to give lessons in democracy.

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During an exchange Tuesday, July 26 with young Cameroonians, the Head of State played humility: “France has no lesson to teach anyone and I think that compared to 20 years ago, western liberal democracies are less good at explaining where everyone should go.” No lesson therefore, but Emmanuel Macron does not want to give free rein to authoritarian regimes either, such as Russia which is settling in Cameroon. He therefore took advantage of it in a sentence to warn young Cameroonians: “It is not with President Putin or with others that you will have this kind of debate…”

Under the big top of Club Noah, Emmanuel Macron was also applauded when he promised a commission to shed light on one of the abscesses of the Franco-Cameroonian relationship: the crimes of decolonization. “It’s like a subject that has been repressed. It’s very complicated to move forward if you don’t say things”explained the president.

“I’m for facing the truth, so you have to approach it with a lot of common goodwill and just a desire for truth, because I think it’s the truth that allows burial.”

Emmanuel Macron

at franceinfo

“There is a love story, a love triangle to revive: France, Cameroon and the diaspora”concluded Emmanuel Macron.