Home Awareness Niger Stands in Solidarity with France: EU Diplomacy Chief’s Support
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Niger Stands in Solidarity with France: EU Diplomacy Chief’s Support

Ghana's Chief of Defence Staff, Vice Admiral Seth Amoama welcomes Ivory Coast's Chief of Defence staff Lassina Doumbia, during the Extraordinary meeting of the Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS) committee of chiefs of the defence staff in Accra, Ghana, on August 17, 2023. West African military chiefs met in Ghana on August 17, 2023 to coordinate a possible armed intervention to reverse a coup in Niger, as Germany called for EU sanctions against the rebel leaders. Alarmed by a series of military takeovers in the region, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has agreed to activate a "standby force to restore constitutional order" in Niger. ECOWAS is demanding Niger's coup leaders release President Mohamed Bazoum after his July 26 ouster, warning that the bloc could send in troops as a last resort if negotiations fail. (Photo by GERARD NARTEY / AFP)

Josep Borrell, during a conference in New York, expressed “his full solidarity” with Paris, while the French ambassador to Niger is under expulsion from the putschists.

Paris refuses to recognize the Nigerien authorities resulting from the coup d’état which occurred at the end of July and as such the departure of Sylvain Itté as demanded by the new leaders. “We expressed our solidarity with France regarding its ambassador,” declared the head of diplomacy of the European Union, during a conference in New York following a meeting of foreign ministers of the EU. Josep Borrell also reaffirmed his “full support” for President Mohamed Bazoum, overthrown and held prisoner by the military. “We saluted his courage and his determination”, even though he has been detained for two months and does not intend to resign, he added.

“Reassess” the EU strategy

On the Sahel, Josep Borrell reiterated that the European Union must “reassess” its strategy, its approach, its policies and its expectations. “We have no conclusions,” he said while emphasizing that the ministers agreed on one point: the need for a “new approach” in a “much more complex” environment. He recalled the situation of the Sahel, a neighbor and a partner at the same time, and the importance that member countries attach to the countries of this region, particularly in terms of security. “We insisted on the idea that we must have African solutions to African problems,” he also declared. Last week, Josep Borrell recognized that despite hundreds of millions of euros spent in the Sahel, Europeans had failed to strengthen democracy in this region, the victim of a series of military coups, including the last in Niger.

This article is originally published on .adiac-congo.com

 

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