Departure within 48 hours
Niger expels French ambassador
08/26/2023, 5:00 a.m
The coup plotters in Niger withdraw accreditation from the French ambassador. The envoy should leave the country within 48 hours. Since the overthrow, Paris has been pushing for the restoration of democracy.
The military government in Niger has asked the French ambassador in Niamey to leave the country within 48 hours. The authorities have decided to revoke Ambassador Sylvain Itte’s approval, the Foreign Ministry said. The French Foreign Ministry immediately rejected the decision – and denied those in power their authority. France has taken note of the “demand” of the “putschists,” the ministry said. It went on to say: “The putschists have no authority to make this application, since the accreditation of the ambassador is carried out solely by the elected legitimate Nigerien authorities.”
The military overthrew the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum in Niger on July 26 and took power in the country. France, in line with other Western and African states, does not recognize the new rulers.
Since the coup, the military representatives who came to power in Niger have accused Paris in particular of wanting to intervene militarily in Niger to reinstate Bazoum. They also claimed that the West African Economic Community ECOWAS was a henchman of the former colonial power France.
1500 French soldiers in Niger
Those in power in Niger justified Itte’s expulsion by citing the French ambassador’s “refusal” to accept an invitation from the Nigerien Foreign Ministry for a meeting and other “actions by the French government that run counter to Niger’s interests”.
After the coup, ECOWAS imposed far-reaching economic sanctions on the country and threatened military intervention to restore constitutional order. Before the coup d’état in Niger, France had actively supported President Bazoum’s government in its fight against jihadist militias. Around 1,500 French soldiers are still stationed in the country.