The French military deployment in Niger as well as the ambassador and diplomatic staff will be recalled. This was said by President Emmanuel Macron in an interview with TF1 and France 2. France is getting ready to follow the same procedure that resulted in the departure of French diplomats and soldiers from Mali and Burkina Faso, which occurred precisely two months after the ouster of President Mohamed Bazoum and the installation of General Abdourahamane Tchiani. An significant point was raised by the African nation when the Elysée vehemently refused to allow ambassador Sylvain Itté to return to his own country as of July 26th.
A decision that resulted in a number of stances and threats, including the revocation of Itté's diplomatic immunity, the obstruction of supplies, the embassy's isolation from the energy system, and a prohibition on other nations' ambassadors entering Niger.
Macron stated in the interview that he ends military cooperation with the de facto government of Niger because they are no longer committed to fighting terrorism. He also stated that 1500 French soldiers will leave Niger in the coming weeks and months, with the withdrawal being finished by the end of the year. Macron's message, however, was not entirely clear.
The new Niger administration, for its part, described the news as a historic occasion, but the French President did not completely rule out the possibility of talks.
According to the National Council for the Protection of the Homeland's news releases, Niger has reached a new phase toward statehood. This historical development demonstrates the nation's resolve and will. Therefore, the junta's goals diverge drastically from what France said. Whether they choose to go or not, everyone, institutions, or structures that endanger the nation's plans and interests must depart Niger. Neocolonialist and imperialist forces are no longer acceptable.
. Niger blocked its airspace to all French planes while emphasizing the necessity for a peaceful transfer of power in the area. The CNSP reiterates on X that all domestic and international commercial flights are still permitted in this airspace, but that special flights and operational military planes are expressly prohibited unless specifically approved by the authorities.
The only French tricolor that will continue to fly in the Sahel in this new environment, where the West has been placed on the blacklist by a new awareness of Africa, will be that of Chad, where the idyll of the cousins from beyond the Alps with the family has continued Déby since 1990 in the democratic government of the nation from which the French fighter jets threaten to take off towards Niger.
