Brussels, 06/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - During a visit to Brussels, the prime minister of Niger, Brigi Rafini, and his delegation launched an appeal on Wednesday 6 June to the EU and international community to provide them with assistance to tackle the serious threat of insecurity and destabilisation to their country and the whole of the Sahel region and Mali. Rafini held meetings with Michèle Striffler MEP (EPP, France), rapporteur on European parliament humanitarian aid, and José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission. Rafini was pleased with the “very favourable” response he received from his European interlocutors.
At the end of his meetings, Rafini informed the press: “The EU has always helped us, particularly with development and infrastructure aid. In this difficult moment for our country and the countries of the sub-region, we are drawing attention to the dangers surrounding Sahel-Saharan countries, like Mali. We belong to the same community and share the same destiny. There is no question of accepting the threats to the stability of the region through partition or fundamentalism in Mali. I am launching a strong appeal to the international community to help us find a sustainable solution.” The president of Niger underlined the efforts made by his government to stabilise democratic institutions and ensure his country's political stability. He added: “At the end of the Libyan crisis, we experienced crisis in Mali, which is even more complex. We are eager for this to end. The territorial integrity of Mali must be maintained. We hope to very soon begin decisive action so that tranquillity is ensured for the people. We need aid very soon.” The prime minister provided assurances that all opportunities would be explored to develop dialogue but that in the event of failure there would be intervention from ECOWAS, so that order and stability prevail.
Barroso congratulated Rafini for the exemplary democratic transition since 2011 and expressed the EU's willingness to strengthen its efforts to help to contain threats of destabilisation in the Sahel through terrorist contagion and violence in Mali. He confirmed that the EU was planning the deployment of a civilian mission to support the internal security forces and rule of law in the country as part of the common defence and security policy, which is expected to begin its activities at the end of July.
The crisis in Mali, Libya and in the south of Nigeria has had direct repercussions on Niger, with 52,000 Malian refugees and a halt to money transfers from Libya, explained Striffler.
She said that the most serious challenges lay ahead and that extremist and terrorist organisations such as AQMI aimed to extend their influence in the whole of the Sahel, particularly in Niger, which is at the crossroads of regional threats. She added that it was therefore imperative that urgent action be taken. She is appealing for the EU to both step up and speed up implementation of its integrated security and development strategy for the Sahel and to support Niger's efforts to strengthen defence capacity on its own territory. (AN/transl.fl)