Spain and the EU prioritize the diplomatic route over the military one for Niger despite pressure from France

2023-09-01 08:04:16

Toledo has been this Thursday the center of global geopolitical action. The Castilian-La Mancha city has traveled, for example, the interim head of government of Niger in exile, Hassoumi Massoudou. Before he was Foreign Minister, but after the military coup in the African country he became the official representative of the Government. The legitimately elected president at the polls, Mohamed Bazoumhas been locked up by the military for more than a month, without electricity and sometimes without water, in the country’s capital, Niamey.

Massoudou explained the situation in his country to the 27 foreign ministers, meeting in Toledo in an informal summit as part of the Spanish presidency of the Council of the EU. The head of European diplomacy and the Spanish diplomacy have wrapped him up, Joseph Borrell and Jose Manuel Albares. Both have expressed their support for Bazoum’s legitimate government and have demanded his release, but have not wanted to say whether or not the 27 will support military intervention plans against the coup leaders. “We take away the political and moral support of the EU”Massoudou limited himself to saying to journalists after leaving the meeting with the European ministers.

French ambassador in Niamey

France had breakfast today with the news that the Niger coup junta had withdrawn the diplomatic immunity of its ambassador in Niamey, Sylvain Itte. His diplomatic documents and visas, and those of his family members, have been annulled. The situation is tense and it is not known how it will end. They had ordered him to leave the country, but Emmanuel Macron gave the order to resist: he does not recognize Paris the authority of the military rebels. They have given the order to the security forces to proceed with the expulsion of the French diplomat.

Macron’s government is at the European vanguard in supporting a military intervention. He has even asked Algeria for permission to fly over its airspace, without success.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) it already has a plan for the deployment of soldiers, led by Nigeria; they say they are ready to enter the country. But, for the moment, nothing is moving on the ground, and the position of Paris does not seem to be shared by the rest of the partners, focused on supporting Ukraine.

Both Albares and Borell have repeatedly avoided ruling on whether Spain or the EU, respectively, will support ECOWAS. in case they decide to invade Niger to restore order. For example, financing the military intervention force. They do not rule it out, but for now the diplomatic and political path prevails. And they wait for Cedeao to decide. “African solutions to African problems”, the two senior diplomats have tirelessly repeated. “We are going to see what they want to do. Based on that, we will decide”Borrell said. “For now the solution is to try political dialogue, when other positions are adopted, we will make other decisions with our European partners,” Albares insisted.

What Spain is going to do, like the rest of the 27, and it was agreed this Thursday in Toledo, is to launch a “harsh package of sanctions” against the coup junta. The idea is replicate the sanctions that have already been imposed by African countries. Individual sanctions with “humanitarian exceptions”, Borrell said, because they do not want to provoke a crisis “in the second poorest country in the world”.

Gabon is not Niger

The European High Representative has twice insisted on differentiating between the coup d’état in Niger on July 26 and the one that occurred this Wednesday in Gabon. In Gabon, he said, the elections that gave President Ali Bongo a new mandate raised “a lot of doubts” as to their “democratic validity.” In Niger, by contrast, Bazoum was elected in fair elections. Nothing justifies, yes, the coups d’état, and calls for differences to be resolved in Gabon through an inclusive dialogue.

This series of blows is sending a message to Brussels. Borrell has recognized that the Twenty-seven are going to have to carry out a in-depth review of its policy towards Africathat “it is clear that it has not gone well”, in view of the concatenation of riots.

money for ukraine

The war in Ukraine has been another of the major topics of this informal council, which has had the presence of its Foreign Minister, Dimitro Kuleba. He has asked Spain for more weapons: tanks, anti-aircraft defenses and ammunition. He has also charged harshly against those who, from the West and through the media, criticize the slowness of the Ukrainian counteroffensive. “I ask them to shut up and come to Ukraine to liberate even one square centimeter of land themselves,” the head of Ukrainian diplomacy concluded.

The ministers have discussed Borrell’s proposal to allocate 20,000 million euros over the next four years, at a rate of 5,000 million a year, within the framework of the European Mechanism for Peace to sustain military aid to Ukraine over time in a predictable manner. He also wants it to rise to the 40,000 Ukrainian military who will receive training from EU Member States.

Spain will have to decide in a few months, as president of the Council of the EU, if it gives the go-ahead to the Ukrainian accession talks to the European Union, after reading the Commission’s report, which is scheduled for October. Albares has stressed that our country is committed to launching the process. Kuleba, by his side in an appearance before journalists in Toledo, has said that he trusts that it will be this year.