African leaders pushed back after French President Emmanuel Macron said that some of their nations owed their sovereignty to France after its troops intervened in their countries.

“For all the African heads of states, who facing the public opinion didn’t have the courage” to acknowledge the role France played, “none of them would be a sovereign country today if the French army hadn’t deployed in the region,” Macron said in a speech to the country’s diplomatic corps on Monday. “I think someone forgot to say thank you.”