Page "Foreign relations of the Comoros" Paragraph 11

Comoros ' most significant international relationship is that with France.

The three years of estrangement following the unilateral declaration of independence and the nationalistic Soilih regime were followed during the conservative Abdallah and Djohar regimes by a period of growing trade, aid, cultural, and defense links between the former colony and France, punctuated by frequent visits to Paris by the head of state and occasional visits by the French president to Moroni.

The leading military power in the region, France has detachments on Mahoré and Réunion, and its Indian Ocean fleet sails the waters around the islands.

France and Comoros signed a mutual security treaty in 1978 ; following the mercenary coup against Abdallah in 1989, French troops restored order and took responsibility for reorganizing and training the Comorian army.

With Mahoré continuing to gravitate politically and economically toward France, and Comoros increasingly dependent on the French for help with its own considerable social, political, and economic problems, the issue of Mahoré diminished somewhat in urgency.