Presidential candidate Eric Zemmour sent from Abidjan, where he was on Thursday, a message of support for the French armed forces, which he visited in Côte d’Ivoire. “He made a visit this morning around 10 am (local time) which continued until the beginning of the afternoon”, to the camp of the French forces in Ivory Coast, told AFP a source. diplomatic.
A right of presidential candidates
“It is a visit like all the candidates for the presidential, who have the right to visit an army unit. It turns out that he chose the French forces in Ivory Coast, “said a source at the French Ministry of the Armed Forces. Thursday afternoon, he posted on his Twitter account several photos of this visit to the military.
An advertisement which annoyed the spokesperson for the Ministry of the Armed Forces, Hervé Grandjean. “The rules are the same for everyone: discretion and sobriety,” he tweeted, recalling that recently several candidates had visited military rights-of-way.
5. In recent times, several candidates have visited military rights-of-way. The rules are the same for everyone: discretion and sobriety.
– Spokesperson for the French Ministry of the Armed Forces (@HerveGrandjean) December 23, 2021
Avoiding the risks of “instrumentalization”
“This moral commitment that we ask of the presidential candidates was not kept today by a candidate. We regret it. These rules have a simple objective: to avoid any risk of instrumentalisation of the French armed forces”, a- he continued.
Abidjan is home to the 43rd Marine Infantry Battalion (43rd BIMa), as part of a defense agreement between France and Côte d’Ivoire. The battalion provides, among other things, logistical support to the French anti-jihadist force Barkhane deployed in the Sahel.
Zemmour salutes “bravery” and “dedication”
Earlier in the day, Eric Zemmour had praised, in a message on Twitter, the “bravery” and “dedication” of the armed forces. “I want to salute your bravery and dedication which is matched only by all those in our country who are ready to sacrifice themselves for our flag,” he wrote. “You are at the same time our sentries, our breastplate and the armed wing of our homeland in the world”.
The candidate, who wants to “strengthen (the) defense system of the national territory”, promises to pay “particular attention to the means” allocated to defense and “to improve the living conditions” of the soldiers.
Zemmour back in France on December 24
Eric Zemmour arrived Wednesday evening in Ivory Coast, without any information on his program having been revealed. Thursday afternoon, he met about twenty French people living in Abidjan to discuss social issues, AFP noted. According to his entourage, he must be back in France on Friday, which implies a departure from Abidjan Thursday evening. A photo of him waiting for his luggage on his arrival at Abidjan airport was widely relayed on social networks on Thursday.
This is Eric Zemmour’s first trip to Africa since he declared his candidacy in early December. The Ivorian presidency denied to AFP any meeting between the candidate and the Ivorian head of state Alassane Ouattara, contrary to what some local media claimed. In 2017, the French living in Abidjan voted 83% for Emmanuel Macron in the second round of the presidential election, against 17% in favor of his far-right rival Marine le Pen.