With the participation of about ninety delegations and 31 of the leading leaders, the eighteenth session of the Francophone Summit on the Tunisian island of Djerba was launched on Saturday to confirm the ability of the International Francophone Organization to perform an “important role” to solve the current international crises.
During a press conference on Saturday evening, French President Emmanuel Macron said, “We managed to reach a statement from all members with a very clear position on the war that Russia launches in Ukraine,” without giving more details.
He also announced that France made an application to organize the Francophone summit in 2024.
The General Secretary of the Organization, Rwandi Louise Mushikiwo, stressed that the organizer is able to enjoy a “impact on a torn world” with multiple crises.
“The Francophone should remain a link to reduce the conversation of tensions into conflicts,” she added in the opening speech.
The Secretary-General reminded many of the “storms” that swept the world, especially the Kofid-19 pandemic, which caused the postponement of the summit of 2020.
Participants are discussing for two days on matters related to the “digital field as a development engine”, as well as international files related to the war in Ukraine.
The meeting will be held with the continuation of the climate summit in Egypt and after the meeting of the Group of Twenty in Indonesia, which overwhelmed the war of the war in Ukraine, the country with the status of an observer in the Francophone Organization.
The Secretary -General did not address the Russian invasion of Ukraine in her speech, while this file was the focus of talks between French President Emmanuel Macron and other presidents during the summit, according to sources close to the file.
The summit is attended by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as well as heads of African countries.
Several African countries express their dissatisfaction with the lack of solidarity of Western countries with the continent facing multiple and continuous crises, while their interest was focused on Ukraine’s help.
Tunisian President Qais Saeed expressed his hope that the summit would conclude “tangible and real results” to confront the “worlds witnessed by the world.
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During his meeting with a group of young people, on the sidelines of the summit, the French President stressed the need to “recover” the French language in some Francophone countries after it recorded a “real decline”.
Macron called for the Francophone to be “a living space and a space for steadfastness . . . and not a foundation space. ”
On Saturday, France granted a loan of 200 million euros to Tunisia to face its economic crisis.
Also, Tunisian and French Presidents signed a “ambitious plan to enhance the French language skills of teachers and students in education,” according to a statement issued by the Elysee.
The Francophone Organization, which includes 88 members, celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of its founding. Tunisia was one of the organization’s founding countries in 1972 alongside Senegal, Nigeria and Cambodia.
Uncatential countries participate in the Francophone in the summit works, such as Moldavia, the United Arab Emirates and Serbia..
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