NEW YORK: The European Union’s top diplomats have expressed solidarity with France’s ambassador to Niger, who is living like a hostage in the country after refusing expulsion orders from the military junta, Western media reported on Monday.
The military after throwing away the elected government in late July had expelled Ambassador Sylvain Itte, who refused to leave the country.
President Emmanuel Macron last week said that the ambassador was “literally being held hostage” in the embassy premises.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told media after the bloc’s foreign ministers met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York that the EU expressed solidarity with France over the situation of its ambassador in Niger.
EU reiterates full support to Mohamed Bazoum
He also reiterated the bloc’s full support to Mohamed Bazoum, the ousted president who had been detained by the military since the July coup.
Borrell added that the EU leaders agreed on the need to review their strategy in the Sahel Africa region where France has led years of efforts to defeat jihadists. “We need a new approach as we are facing a much more complex environment,” he said.
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He said the EU believes that African problems need African solutions.
Over the past decade, the European Union has spent 600 million euros in the Sahel region and trained 30,000 personnel of security forces and 18,000 troops in Mali and Niger.
Paris has around 1,500 troops in Niger and earlier said that any redeployment could only be exchanged with President Bazoum. Niger’s military leaders have already ended military cooperation deals with Paris and asked the soldiers to leave.
The European Union also does not recognize the military government in Niger that seized the government.
