As soon as news of the attempted military coup in Niger by part of the presidential guard broke on the evening of Wednesday, 26 July, the European Union joined the African Union and ECOWAS in condemning it and expressing its full support for President Mohamed Bazoum, who was elected in February 2021.
On Thursday, 27 July, he and his wife were still being held in the presidential palace by the mutineers who, late the previous evening, had suspended the [country’s] institutions and closed the borders until further notice. And while President Bazoum rejected the coup, the putschists received the support of the Nigerien army on Thursday.
President of the European Council Charles Michel and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell were in contact with President Bazoum on Wednesday evening to assure him of “the EU’s full support”.
On Thursday, Charles Michel declared on Twitter (renamed X), “We strongly condemn any attempt to destabilise Niger”. While a delegation from Benin was attempting to mediate on behalf of ECOWAS and the African Union, he added, “Support for the constitutional order and for President Talon’s current efforts”.
In a statement published on Wednesday evening on behalf of the EU27, Josep Borrell had declared, “The European Union is following, with great concern, the events underway in Niamey [...]. [...] We reaffirm our full support for President Bazoum and our conviction that Niger is an essential partner for the European Union in the Sahel, whose destabilisation would not serve the interests of anyone in the country, the region, or beyond. Not only the efforts underway against terrorist movements but also the political and civil revival underway in Niger would suffer greatly”.
The French Ministry for Foreign Affairs uses the same language: “France is concerned about the events underway in Niger and is closely following the development of the situation. It strongly condemns any attempt to take power by force and joins the calls by the African Union and ECOWAS to restore the integrity of Niger’s democratic institutions”, declared French Minister Catherine Colonna.
Asked by the press on Thursday whether—after military coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger—the EU was considering reviewing its entire policy in the Sahel and, in particular, the CSDP military partnership missions with Niger (see EUROPE 13197/22), European External Action Service Spokesperson Nabila Massrali replied that it was “too soon” to comment “at this early stage”. “But we will, of course, evaluate all that in the light of the evolution [...] in the situation of the country”, she stated. She also said that she could not answer the question as to whether EU-trained soldiers had taken part in the putsch. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)