A distinguished man in a suit attending a formal conference with an attentive audience in the background.
Madagascar’s military leader, Colonel Michael Randrianirina, held a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron after expelling a French diplomat over an alleged plot to destabilize the country. The expulsion, fueled by unsubstantiated social media rumors of “French mercenaries,” prompted Paris to summon Madagascar’s chargé d’affaires in protest. During the call, Randrianirina defended the move as a standard exercise of state sovereignty, though both leaders ultimately agreed to treat the episode as an “isolated incident” to preserve bilateral ties. By publicly asserting national sovereignty and standing up to Madagascar’s former colonial ruler, Randrianirina bolsters his domestic populist appeal. For France, the episode means further loss of diplomatic footing in yet another former African colony. Over the long term, continued instability and geopolitical repositioning in Madagascar may reshape foreign investment flows, weaken democratic institutions, and alter strategic influence in the Indian Ocean region.
Le Monde