The French Foreign Ministry cited recent violent incidents against the French embassy in Niamey, the capital, as one of the reasons for its decision.
The closure of Nigerian airspace also “leaves our compatriots unable to leave the country on their own,” the ministry noted.
The evacuation of French and European citizens who wanted to leave would begin on Tuesday, the ministry said in a statement. No further details were given.
The Paris decision came amid a growing crisis sparked by a coup last week against the country’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum.
The Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, on Sunday announced economic and travel sanctions against Niger over the coup and said it would use force if coup leaders did not reinstate Bazoum within a week. Bazoum’s government was one of the West’s last democratic partners in the fight against extremists in the region.
For their part, the military governments of Mali and Burkina Faso stated in a joint statement that “any military intervention against Niger will be considered a declaration of war against Burkina Faso and Mali.”
Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, Malian Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, read the joint statement on Mali state television on Monday night. The two countries also rejected the ECOWAS economic sanctions as “unlawful, illegitimate and inhumane”, and refused to apply them.
ECOWAS suspended all commercial and financial transactions between its member states and Niger, in addition to freezing Nigerian assets in central banks in the region. Niger is heavily dependent on foreign aid and sanctions could exacerbate poverty for its more than 25 million people.
Mali and Burkina Faso have each gone through two coups since 2020, in which soldiers toppled governments saying they could do a better job of fighting rising jihadist violence linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State group. ECOWAS has sanctioned both countries and suspended their participation in the bloc, but has never threatened to use force.
Also Guinea, another country under a military regime since 2021, issued a statement in support of Niger and urged ECOWAS to “be reasonable”. Guinea will not apply the sanctions, added Brigadier General Ibrahima Sory Bangoura, in a ruling party statement.
In anticipation of the ECOWAS decision on Sunday, thousands of supporters of the junta took to the streets in Niamey, criticizing France, its former colonial power, as well as waving Russian flags and banners praising Russian President Vladimir Putin. The attendees demanded that the international community remain on the sidelines.
There has been no clear explanation for the presence of Russian symbols, but the country appears to have become a symbol of the protesters’ anti-Western sentiment.
The protesters also burned a door and smashed windows at the French embassy before the Nigerian army dispersed them.
The French embassy sent an email to French citizens in Niamey to announce the evacuation. The transfer would be made by air and was also open to spouses and children of French citizens, the message indicated. Those interested were asked to pack a single small bag per person and to also bring water, some food, cell phones and batteries.
Niger could be following in the same footsteps as Mali and Burkina Faso, according to analysts. Protesters with Russian flags were seen in both countries after their respective coups. Following the second insurrection in Burkina Faso last September, protesters also stormed the French embassy in the capital, Ouagadougou, and damaged the French Institute, France’s international organization for cultural promotion.
If ECOWAS uses force, it could also unleash violence between pro-coup and anti-coup civilians, according to analysts in Niger.
Although unlikely, “the consequences for the civilian population of such an approach, if the coup leaders opt for confrontation, would be catastrophic,” said Rida Lyammouri, a researcher at the Policy Center for the New South. Sur), a think tank based in Morocco.
ECOWAS, which groups 15 countries, has tried since the 1990s to protect democracies from the threat of coups, with mixed success.
Four countries are run by military governments in West and Central Africa, where there have been nine successful or failed coups since 2020.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
