2023-08-11 00:33:45
France expressed Thursday evening its full support for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which validated the military option to put an end to the coup d’etat in Niger while providing a final chance of peaceful solution to the crisis.
Paris supports “all the conclusions adopted at the extraordinary summit” of ECOWAS in Abuja, including the decision to activate the deployment of a “standby force”, meant the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
At the same time, the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken declared that his country supported “the leadership and the work” of the regional organization to allow the return to constitutional order in Niger, without however explicitly approving the decision to deploy its strength.
For the time being, ECOWAS is still hoping for a diplomatic solution, but its message, relayed by the Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, to the soldiers who took power in Niamey is very clear: the threat of intervention is more than serious and the operation can “start as soon as possible”.
The effect of this announcement is still uncertain. “We don’t know when or how this force will be deployed, or who will be part of it,” explains Tatiana Smirnova, associate researcher at the FrancoPaix Center of the Raoul-Dandurand Chair, in an interview with Le Devoir. “It risks degenerating in an unpredictable way,” she adds.
Earlier in the day, the ruling military junta, which emerged from the July 26 coup, announced that it had formed a government.
ECOWAS leaders were meeting in a summit in Abuja, Nigeria to discuss the situation. Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, who is currently at the head of the organization, does not rule out the use of force as a “last resort”, reports Agence France-Presse. However, he claims to favor a peaceful solution to the conflict, in particular through negotiation.
Anti-Western sentiments
ECOWAS brings together regarding fifteen West African countries. Its purpose is to promote economic cooperation in the region and strengthen relations between member states.
Tatiana Smirnova specifies that the organization “is perceived locally as a force pushed by the West, whether it is France or the United States”. She adds that “the military intervention risks further radicalizing the populations in their anti-French and anti-Western feeling in general”.
Despite the attention given to the conflict internationally, the coup has local roots, says Ms. Smirnova. “The coup was really caused by internal frustrations and tensions [qui existent] for a very long time between several political and military actors in Niger. It is also part of the more general frustrations of the population over the inequitable distribution of resources. »
The researcher adds that the conflict is part of a trend of coups in the Sahel, with such events occurring in Mali and Burkina Faso, two countries ruled by the military since 2020 and 2022 respectively. Although “provoked locally for internal reasons”, the conflict in Niger took another turn due to Western fears that Russia would use the situation to its advantage, she explains.
In the event of a hypothetical return to constitutional order, “Niger will remain extremely fragile vis-à-vis this rise in anti-Western feelings”, adds the researcher. “And here, it must be remembered once once more that Niger is one of the countries which are leading a fight once morest insurgent groups which also have an anti-Western project. »
Two weeks under tension
On July 26, soldiers overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum, kidnapping him in the presidential palace in Niamey, the capital of Niger. General Abdourahamane Tchiani, at the head of the putschists, justified the coup d’etat by the violence that is shaking the country. He lamented that the presence of Western soldiers, including French and Americans, was not enough to secure the climate in Niger.
On Wednesday, the junta accused France of releasing jihadists and violating the country’s airspace, allegations denied by the Elysee.
The Nigerien soldiers are counting on the support of Mali and Burkina Faso. According to Agence France-Presse, these two states allied with the putschists claimed that an attack by ECOWAS in Niger would be considered “a declaration of war”.
With Alex Fontaine, Le Devoir
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