Tension rises in Niger. This Tuesday, August 8, the military junta, which took power after the coup d’état on July 26, announced that it will not receive the diplomatic mission that includes ECOWAS in its country and that it has threatened military intervention. The rejection comes when the regional block is preparing for a summit next Thursday, in which it will evaluate the steps to follow. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the diplomatic route as the only way out of the crisis.
For the moment, the pressure to negotiate with the military junta to restore democratic order in Niger has not been enough. This Tuesday, the leaders of the coup d’état refused the entry to the country of the diplomatic mission of the Economic Community of West African States (Cedeao).
The Nigerian Army argued that the “security conditions” are not adequate to receive the delegation, since, according to it, The sanctions imposed by the regional block for the seizure of power by force have generated “anger” among citizens and make it impossible to guarantee the security of the delegation.
“The current context of anger and revolt among the population following the sanctions imposed by ECOWAS makes it impossible to receive this delegation with the necessary serenity and security,” the Niger Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote in a letter addressed to the representative of the Cedeao, in Niamey.
The African Union (AU) planned to send a diplomatic delegation together with representatives of the UN and ECOWAS to try to restore constitutional order -after President Mohamed Bazoum was overthrown and arrested by the military-. An option that powers like the United States and the United Nations have supported since the coup.
Blinken urges diplomacy as the “best way” to resolve the crisis
In the midst of the board’s refusal, the United States government stressed that it highlights the efforts of African nations to restore constitutional order through dialogue, at a time when an eventual military intervention would still be on the table. so it Cedeao warned, before the deadline for the coup leaders to restore President Bazoum to office expired, an ultimatum that expired on Sunday, August 6.
“There is no doubt that diplomacy is the preferable means to resolve this situation. That is the ECOWAS approach, that is our approach, and we support ECOWAS efforts to restore constitutional order,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday. in an interview with RFI.
🔴🎙 INVITE EXCLUSIF south @RFI – Le secretaire d’État américain Antony Blinken au micro de @mikaelponge
Au menu :
► L’accord céréalier en mer Noire, dont la #Russie He is retiring on July 17, 2023.
► The situation au #Nigeror a thousand American soldiers are deployed. pic.twitter.com/UwJoN0A1nC—RFI (@RFI) August 8, 2023
His statements come as the ECOWAS heads of state are preparing for a summit next Thursday, August 10, in which they will discuss the steps to follow in the face of the situation in Niger.
The option of a possible military intervention is expected to be discussed at the meeting, although the African group recently assured that this would be the last resort it would resort to.
Parallel to international pressure, the military junta continued to consolidate its de facto government and appointed Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, the nation’s former economy minister, as the new prime minister, said in a statement read on national television on Monday night.
Closed diplomatic channel?
Despite the fact that the tension in Niger does not seem to subside, the international community, specifically the Western powers, consider that it is not too late to negotiate and resolve this revolt and takeover through diplomatic channels. That was what the European Union maintained, although it assured that it will support ECOWAS in its decisions.
“At this moment the EU believes that there is still room for mediation efforts until Thursday,” said Peter Stano, community spokesman for Foreign Affairs, at a European Commission press conference.
Sanctions by the African regional bloc and the withdrawal of aid by Niger’s Western partners have made the situation in the country more difficult and sparked outrage among citizens. In fact, countries like France have even gone so far as to withdraw their aid to nations like Burkina Faso or Mali, after they announced their support for the Nigerien military junta.
Both territories, neighbors of Niger, assure that they will support the sovereignty and independence of their neighboring nation and have assured that any intervention in Niger would also amount to a declaration of war against them.
Meanwhile, US acting Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland flew to Niamey on Monday but was denied permission to meet either coup leader Abdourahamane Tiani or Bazoum, who remains in custody. However, she managed to speak with some Nigerien military commanders.
“I had extremely frank and sometimes quite difficult conversations, because, again, we are pressing for a negotiated exit (…) They are quite firm in their vision of how they want to proceed and it does not coincide with the Constitution of Niger,” Nuland said.
In addition to internal instability, there is another fear from the West: the rise to power of the Wagner mercenary group. Blinken maintained that the men of the Russian paramilitary force are taking advantage of the instability of the African nation. to have more weight and get closer to the military junta.
“I think that what happened, and what continues to happen in Niger, was not instigated by Russia or by Wagner, but they tried to take advantage of it. Every place this Wagner group has gone has followed death, destruction and exploitation. “, assured Blinken in an interview with the chain ‘BBC’.
A situation reminiscent of Mali. This country, also led by the military after the 2020 coup, expelled UN and French troops and expanded Wagner’s presence.
Niger is the seventh largest producer of uranium in the world, an essential component for nuclear energy, something that marks much of the geopolitical importance of the nation.
Meanwhile, the UN warns that sanctions and border closures in Niger are making it difficult to avoid an even more pronounced humanitarian crisis, in what is one of the poorest countries in the world and with the highest rate of infant mortality.
With Reuters and local media
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