On Wednesday 30 August, the defence ministers of the EU Member States expressed their deep concern regarding the military coup of 26 July in Niger and the risks of further destabilisation of the Sahel, at an informal exchange of views in Toledo on this putsch and its implications for the whole region (see EUROPE 13238/5). They felt that it was necessary to side with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), as “we have expressed [...] from the first moment”, explained the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, at a press conference.
“[We] reiterated our will to support African solutions to African problems. It is up to them to counter this military coup”, added Mr Borrell, adding that the EU would implement any decision taken by this regional African organisation. The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Alieu Touray, for his part, indicated on 26 August that ECOWAS was “fully exploring the diplomatic route”, despite its standby force. The same day, in Abuja (Nigeria, the headquarters of the organisation), he welcomed the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Molly Phee.
Mr Borrell also announced that he would be submitting a proposal for an autonomous EU sanctions framework to match the unprecedented economic and financial sanctions imposed by ECOWAS on Niger.
France and Germany are behind this proposal, which will be discussed by the EU foreign ministers at their informal meeting on Thursday. An exchange is scheduled with the head of ECOWAS and the foreign minister of the overthrown president of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, who is the only president recognised by the EU. Both were invited by the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council, a source said.
Asked whether the EU would be prepared to provide financial support for an ECOWAS military operation to reinstate Mr Bazoum, Mr Borrell replied: “We are ready to consider any proposal but we need a lot of details in order to engage”.
In response to those who criticise the EU for funding the training of soldiers in Niger who took part in the putsch, he retorted that “when countries are fighting terrorism, it is impossible to prevent what is going to happen from one day to the next. We have to support the armies in the fight against terrorism”.
Alongside him, the interim Spanish minister, Margarita Robles, welcomed the “unity” of the ministers.
“For the moment, the political resolution of the crisis is what is paramount. Intervention or support for military intervention is not, for the moment, the subject of discussions”, stressed German Secretary of State Siemtje Möller in the margins of the meeting. She added: “For us, the priority is always the situation of our soldiers, which we defend with the political instruments that we decide on together”. She expressed her concern, hoping in particular that the putsch in Niger would not delay the return from Mali of the German contingent of MINUSMA. However, she stated that she was not aware of any major danger to the hundred or so German soldiers in Niger: “Most of them are at the air base, which is safer”.
“We want to continue to push to the fore our responsibility, our commitment and that of the European Union to the (African) continent, whose stability is fundamental to our security”, said the Portuguese minister, Helena Carreiras.
French MEP Nathalie Loiseau, who chairs the European Parliament’s defence committee, expressed her alarm at the growing number of military coups in Africa “which threaten democracies, which threaten democratically elected heads of State and their governments. This goes against our interests or our principles and values”. “We need to improve our leadership, we need to improve our unity and we need to support people who share the same values as we do”, she said in Toledo. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang and Camille-Cerise Gessant)