Following a coup that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, President Emmanuel Macron has declared that France will resign its ambassador and cease all military cooperation with Niger.
The French government has chosen to recall its ambassador. Several diplomats, including our ambassador, will return to France in the coming hours, according to Macron.
French troops would depart in “the months to come,” he continued, adding that military cooperation was “over.”.
According to the BBC, the military junta that took control of Niger in July supported the decision.
The junta declared in a statement that “this Sunday we celebrate a new step towards the sovereignty of Niger.”.
Approximately 1,500 French soldiers are fighting Islamist militants in the landlocked nation of West Africa.
More than 1,000 American soldiers are also stationed in Niger, but they have not been asked to leave.
Following months of hostility and protests against the French presence in its former colony, including frequent demonstrations in the capital Niamey, Paris finally made a decision.
The action damaged Paris’ influence and France’s efforts to combat jihadists in the greater Sahel region.
Macron, however, told France’s TF1 and France 2 television stations that France would “not be held hostage by the putschists.”.
The deposed Niger leader Bazoum, who is currently being held captive by the coup leaders, was informed of the French President’s choice, the latter claimed. He called the ousted leader a “hostage.”.
He claimed that the coup d’etat was directed against him because he was enacting brave reforms and because there was a lot of political cowardice and a lot of ethnic score-settling going on.
Following Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, and Chad, Niger is one of several former French colonies in West and Central Africa where the military has recently taken power. In August, there was a coup in Gabon.
