Russia challenges France's sovereignty over Mayotte and denounces “unjustified militarization” of the territory

The strengthening of the French military presence in the overseas department of Mayotte is not seen with a good eye by Moscow, which denounces an illegal occupation of France on the archipelago.

The Overseas Minister, who announced in early March the French "support of the naval base" in Mayotte, has castigated "scandal" statements.

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday issued harsh criticism of France, accusing it of an “unjustified militarization” of Mayotte, a French territory located in the Indian Ocean. The statements come as Paris recently announced its intention to strengthen its military presence in the area.

"The militarist aspirations of the administration (from French President Emmanuel) Macron go far beyond the European Union" denounced this Thursday Russian diplomacy, in response to the project of "support of the French naval base" on the island evoked at the beginning of March by Manuel Valls.

In a press release on 29 March, the Movement for the Development of Mayotte (MDM) called for the inclusion of an institutional review clause in the Mayotte recasting programming bill, due to be presented next April by the Government."In 2009, the referendum on the single community was mainly an institutional experiment – merging departments and regions – rather than a real step towards the common law status that the Mahorais have been claiming s…

ARTICLE. Russia's support for the Comoros threatens French interests in the region. This week, the Russian government spokesman accused France of wanting to militarize Mayotte.