The international community continues to weigh the action plan after the military coup in Niger. The emergency meeting held this Thursday within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) does not exclude any scenario, including military action to “restore constitutional order.” In parallel, the military Junta maintains the pulse and announces the creation of a new Government made up of 21 ministers. Meanwhile, the European Union is considering the first sanctions against the country for attacks on democracy.
At the end of the meeting that took place in Abuja, Omar Touray, president of the ECOWAS commission, has ordered the “activation of the reserve force” of the bloc with immediate effect. The intention of the 15 countries of the bloc is to exhaust all efforts to end the crisis through “diplomatic” and “peaceful” channels, but the situation on the ground is becoming more complicated with each passing day and “all options remain on the table”. Two weeks after the coup in the West’s main ally in the Sahel, the regional offensive, led by Nigeria, advocates tightening sanctions and travel bans on all those responsible.
The sequence of movements of the last few hours does not give room for optimism. The self-proclaimed leader, General Abdourahmane Tchiani, has refused to receive the one sent by the United States. In parallel, he has announced the formation of an Executive, which shows his intention to continue with his initial plan to establish himself and establish himself in power. In the last few hours, Niamey has denounced a violation by France of its airspace, closed in the context of the crisis. Some movements that Paris has denied. The tension is on the surface. And the military Junta does not bow to international pressure: it has made it clear that it does not accept any type of mediation.
At this high-tension situation, the European Union has activated the machinery to evaluate the results of the meeting. European sources avoid making a hot reaction and postpone the official assessment to the next few hours. For now, the Reuters agency already announced on Wednesday that the community bloc has begun to draw up the scheme to impose the first restrictive measures on the country. A common roadmap in times of crisis. In the weeks leading up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with the drums of war growing louder, the Europeans already began preparing the legal framework for sanctions on the Kremlin, which were activated after the first hours of the war. Everything indicates that the final decision will be taken within the framework of the next Foreign Affairs Council that the 27 European ministers will hold at the end of this month in Toledo, in what is already the first unanticipated international crisis of the Spanish Presidency of the Council.
The impact of economic sanctions on the third poorest country in the world threatens to leave serious consequences. The Nigerian coffers depend on 40% of international aid. It receives nearly 2,000 million euros a year for development funds. In response to the arrest of ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, the United States, the World Bank and the EU – the largest donors of humanitarian aid – announced an ipso facto suspension of financial aid. The current European budget contemplates the allocation of 503 million euros for the country, between 2021 and 2024, to strengthen institutions, promote education and promote sustainable growth.
The Niger crisis is already putting the Europeans on the ropes on their southern flank. After the fall of Mali, the country had become the Western security bet to stop the jihadist insurgents, fed by Wagner’s Russian mercenaries, increasingly present in what is already the most dangerous region on the globe. The 2021 document from the European Commission on the importance of the country leaves no room for doubt. “Niger is a major player in the Sahel. It plays a decisive role in major regional, European and international initiatives to strengthen peace and development in the region (…) The risk of extension and aggravation of multiple conflicts in the Sahel is a European problem,” the document states. Niger is already the last bastion to fall after what the United Nations described a few months ago as an “epidemic of coups.” The country is the protagonist of the 32nd coup in the last three decades on the African continent.
