The move, outlined in a letter from the Burkina Faso Foreign Affairs Ministry to the French embassy, declared Gwenaëlle Habouzit, political advisor Guillaume Reisacher, and political advisor Hervé Fournier “persona non grata” and ordered them to leave the country within 48 hours.
This latest incident follows a series of actions that have strained relations between the two nations since the September 2022 coup d’état led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, who reportedly has close ties with Russia.
In late 2023, Burkina Faso arrested and imprisoned individuals identified as French “intelligence agents.” These individuals remain under house arrest. Additionally, in December 2022, two French nationals working for a Burkina Faso company were expelled on suspicion of espionage.
Further escalating tensions, Burkina Faso has suspended several French and France-linked media outlets, including RFI, France24, Le Monde, and Jeune Afrique. The government accuses these outlets of promoting terrorism within the country, which has been battling extremist violence since 2015.
DS/ac/fss/abj/APA