APA – Niamey (Niger) – French president Emmanuel Macron has denied any paternalism on the part of Paris in Africa.
“France and its diplomats have been confronted in recent months with particularly difficult situations in certain countries, whether in Sudan, where France has been exemplary, or in Niger at this very moment, and I salute your colleagues who are listening from their posts,” said the French President in his address to the ambassadors at the traditional annual diplomatic conference held at the Elysee Palace on Monday 28 August.
Referring to the situation in Niger, Emmanuel Macron said that French policy was the “right one.”
“It is based on the courage of President Bazoum, on the commitment of our diplomats, on our ambassador who is on the ground, who remains despite the pressure and despite all the declarations of illegitimate authorities, thanks to the commitment of our internal security forces and our military,” he said, questioning “the narrative used by the coup plotters which consists of saying that our enemy is France.”
For the French President, “the problem for the people of Niger is the putschists who are putting them in danger because they are abandoning the fight against terrorism, because they are abandoning a policy that was good for them economically, and because they are in the process of losing all the international funding that was going to enable them to escape from poverty.”
“Our policy is simple: we do not recognize the putschists, we support a president who has not resigned and we support the diplomatic and, when it decides, military action of ECOWAS in a partnership approach, which is the one I presented last February. Neither paternalism nor weakness, because otherwise we are nowhere,” added Emmanuel Macron, according to whom, “the weakness shown by some towards previous putsches has fuelled regional vocations. There is an epidemic of putsches throughout the Sahel.”
Diplomatic tensions
The French president’s remarks come amid a climate of diplomatic tension between Paris and Niamey. The latest episode in this tug-of-war was the expulsion of the French Ambassador to Niger within 48 hours last Friday for, among other things, “actions contrary to the interests of Niger,” according to a statement issued by the Niger Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The day after this deadline expired, the French leader gave assurances that Ambassador Sylvain Itte was still in Niamey.
Relations between Paris and Niamey deteriorated following the seizure of power on 26 July 2023 by the ‘Conseil National pour la Sauvegarde de la Patrie (CNSP).
The French authorities refused to recognise the legitimacy of the new authorities, who subsequently decided to terminate the defense and security cooperation agreements between the two countries at the beginning of August.
France was even accused by the military authorities of “destabilisation maneuvers,” which Paris denied, although Paris has never made any secret of its support for ECOWAS in its desire to intervene militarily in Niger to re-establish constitutional order.
During the demonstrations held regularly in the country, as was the case last weekend, France was particularly denounced over the presence of its 1,500 soldiers still stationed in Niger.
At the beginning of the month, French interests, in particular the embassy premises, were the target of vandalism by overzealous demonstrators, leading Paris to decide to repatriate its nationals from the country.
AYB/ac/fss/as/APA