The defence ministers of the EU Member States, meeting in Toledo (Spain) on Wednesday 30 August, expressed their concern at the military coup in Gabon, which occurred just as they were about to begin their informal discussions on the coup in Niger (see other news).
Ali Bongo Odimba, who had just been declared the winner of the presidential election held on 26 August and was preparing to run again as head of state, was overthrown by the military.
Several ministers expressed concern about this when they arrived at the meeting, as did the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, who spoke at the time of “a possible coup d’état”, adding: “If this is confirmed then this is another military coup which increases instability in the whole region”.
Since then, the news has been confirmed, with hundreds of soldiers supporting General Brice Oligui Nguema of the Republican Guard, the suspension of all institutions and the cancellation of the elections, while Ali Bongo Odimba has been placed under house arrest.
Asked by the press whether the EU would respond to Ali Bongo’s appeal for help in a video circulating on the internet and help repatriate European citizens, Mr Borrell said that he preferred to wait before commenting on such a sudden situation.
“The situation in Gabon took us all by surprise this morning. We’ve been following what's been going on, but I'm not up to date with the latest developments. My departments, I'm sure, are doing this from Brussels [via] the crisis unit. And of course, we will do the same for Gabon as we do for Niger and any other country where our citizens need help. But for the moment, I have no further information. I can’t tell you”, replied Mr Borrell.
The French government immediately condemned the “coup d’état in progress”, announcing that Paris was “following the situation in Gabon closely". (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)