The Interview

At the end of a three-day tour that took him successively to Kenya, Rwanda and Ivory Coast, France's Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné spoke to FRANCE 24 and RFI about relations with Rwanda, reform of the CFA franc, France's military presence in Africa and the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.

French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné gave an exclusive interview to FRANCE 24 and RFI, from Abidjan in Ivory Coast, after completing his first African tour. 

The head of French diplomacy spoke in particular about the issues marking relations between Paris and the states of the African continent.

On France’s actions during the genocide of Rwanda’s Tutsis, which he described as “the last genocide of the 20th century”,  Séjourné said France had “acknowledged responsibility for what was done”.

Read moreGenocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda: how historians reckon with the horror

Reacting to the election of Senegalese opponent Bassirou Diomaye Faye to the presidency, Séjourné said:  “I would like to say to you that the democratic process has worked. There's been a political shift, as has been the case in many countries. Now, there are different policies at play, but I think all of us can be quite happy to see that the Senegalese institutions were strong, that people were able to vote and elections were held in a completely transparent manner.”

“This is what we call a democracy that it is alive, and I think it sends a positive message to other regimes who believe that power only comes through force,” the minister said.

Regarding the new Senegalese president’s decision to do away with the CFA franc, Séjourné said that future of the African currency depends on the "sovereign right" of African states.

“It's not up to France to have a position on the matter,” the minister declared.

When questioned about Russia’s growing presence in Africa, he said “every nation is free to choose whatever partnerships they want to have”, though warning that partnerships with Russia came with strings attached.

“The Russians always seek compensation one way or another, either through primary resources, national resources, or they asked to be paid to provide some form of security,” he said.

Séjourné said it was no longer in Paris's own "interest" to talk to Russia after differing accounts emerged from a rare phone call about last month's deadly attack on a Moscow concert hall.

"It is not in our interest currently to hold discussions with Russian officials because the statements and the summaries issued about them are lies.”

Click on the video player to watch the full interview.

Srettha Thavisin became Thailand’s prime minister in August 2023, putting an end to nine years of the country’s military dominating its politics. In an exclusive interview with FRANCE 24, the businessman-turned-politician said he "truly believes" the future of Thailand will be more democratic. 

Will the future of Thailand be more democratic than the past? "Yes I truly believe [so]," the Thai premier told FRANCE 24 in the northern city of Chiang Mai.

Thavisin is the country's first civilian prime minister in nine years. The army's coup in 2014 overthrew the democratically elected government at the time. "I can't worry for things I have no control [of]," he replied when asked about the risk of another coup. "My goal is clearly to make the lives of the Thai people better."

Turning to the conflict in neighbouring Myanmar, Thavisin asserted that "at the moment", it "hasn't reached the point where there is a full civil war".

"The first word we should discuss is humanitarian assistance," he added. "If there are people who need help, then we will help them."

The Thai premier also spoke about a "four-eyes meeting" with French President Emmanuel Macron on March 11, in which the two leaders discussed the war in Ukraine. 

"I think he (Russian President Vladimir Putin) wouldn't dare to invade other nations," Thavisin said.

In exactly 200 days from now, the Olympic Games will be taking over Paris. There are promises of sporting glory, but security and logistical challenges are already raising a number of concerns, especially over the ambitious opening ceremony on the River Seine. FRANCE 24's James Vasina spoke to Christophe Dubi, the Olympic Games Executive Director at the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who sounded an optimistic note. "We feel extremely confident," Dubi said in an interview from Lausanne, Switzerland. "These games are incredibly well-designed and delivered," he added.

In this edition of the FRANCE 24 Interview, Delano D'Souza sits down with Imran Amed, founder and CEO of The Business of Fashion. Amed opens up about his company, the industry at large and the importance of greater diversity at all levels of fashion.

Dr Bernice Albertine King is the youngest daughter of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. She is the CEO of The King Center. FRANCE 24 went to meet her to talk about her father's struggle and the march on Washington 60 years ago, during which Martin Luther King delivered his famous "I have a dream" speech on August 28, 1963. Bernice explains that it took courage for her father to make such a speech, as it represented a threat to the existing order. She also reminds us how, in the speech, he gave a global vision of the world in which we could coexist as a family, as a community, in peace, in justice, in freedom and in equality.

From infrastructure to security, transport to ticketing, Paris still has a series of challenges ahead before it hosts the world's biggest sporting event from July 26, 2024. One year before the Games begin, FRANCE 24 sat down with Tony Estanguet, head of the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics Organising Committee, who also discussed the importance of the highly awaited opening ceremony on the River Seine.

In an interview with FRANCE 24, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba condemned Russia's recent strikes on Ukraine's Black Sea ports in the wake of Moscow's withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative. "Russia's objective is to provoke the increase of [a] global food crisis, export its own grain without any hindrances and make as much money as they can," Kuleba said. "But the people of Ukraine and Africa are paying the price." He added: "Russia will fill its pockets to fund [its] war machine, at the expense of Africa”.  

Kuleba said recent Russian strikes on the Ukrainian port of Reni, on the border with NATO member Romania are a way for Russian President Vladimir Putin to "test the reaction of NATO".

"NATO has to react firmly and decisively in response to this," he said. He confirmed that "Russian ships, wherever they are in the Black Sea, become legitimate targets" in response to Moscow's own warning that civilian ships heading to Ukrainian ports would now be targets.

The top Ukrainian diplomat vowed that Kyiv would "keep trying" to revive the Black Sea Grain Initiative following Russia's withdrawal. He added, however, that if this is not feasible, an alternative sea route to export Ukrainian grain needs to be put in place, as well as ensuring exports to Europe.

Kuleba said he was aware of Russian attempts to export its grain via Qatar and Turkey. He said it would be "shameful" for any country to take part in such a deal, adding that the move shows that Russia "want to make more money, benefitting from higher prices provoked by their own actions".

He said it would be "unacceptable" for Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria to block Ukraine's agricultural exports beyond a September 15 deadline that was previously agreed.

"One of the reasons why Russia is destroying Ukrainian agricultural grain infrastructure is because they want to provoke additional tensions between Ukraine and its neighbours," he argued. "We should not play Putin's game." 

The top Ukrainian diplomat claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin was hosting a Russia-Africa summit later this week in St Petersburg "as a whitewashing instrument for his reputation", and not in order to benefit the continent.

Regarding the Wagner paramilitary group's presence in Africa, Kuleba noted that Ukraine had "a valuable amount of information" that could help African countries beef up their security.

Turning to the issue of weapons, Kuleba said that while Ukraine is seeking US-made long-range ATACMS missiles, Kyiv is already receiving long-range missiles from the UK and France. "So this is not the item that we do not have. We need more but in principle, we have it," he said. He added that demining material was also "a very topical need".

Finally, with regards to talks over US-made F-16 fighter jets, he said "this deal is done". He noted that if Ukraine received the fighter jets, Kyiv would "not depend on Russian blackmail in exporting Ukrainian grain to global markets".

"The sooner we receive them, the sooner we will be able to launch a new corridor," he said. If this happened, "millions of tonnes of Ukrainian grain will make it to the global market, stabilising prices, lowering them, helping people to avoid famine and most importantly, depriving Russia of its blackmail leverage on the world."