The conflict in West Africa seems to be heating up. In a video message on Friday evening, ECOWAS announced that it had decided on a date for the start of military action in Niger.
In West Africa there seems to be a war between several states in the near future. On Friday evening, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) announced in a video statement that it had agreed on a date for the start of a military intervention in Niger.
However, the international community does not want to announce the exact date. “However, our armed forces are ready to go to Niger whenever the order comes,” Ecowas Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security Abdel-Fatau Musah said on Friday after a two-day meeting of West African army chiefs in Niger Ghana’s capital Accra.
“We will not get lost in endless negotiations and draw a line in the sand,” Musah said on Friday. “The aim of the intervention is to restore constitutional order in Niger as quickly as possible.”
Intervention extremely unpopular in Nigeria
Currently, Nigeria, Benin, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau and Senegal have announced that they will provide military resources for an intervention. For their part, Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso have announced that they will support Niger in the event of an Ecowas invasion.
Other states have so far held back with public statements. In several countries – including Nigeria, which would provide a large part of the troops in the event of an operation due to its strength – the parliament would also first have to approve an operation. But that is definitely questionable. In Nigeria, the Senate has shown reluctance to possible intervention against the neighboring country, which is extremely unpopular with the population.
Germany wants to sanction Niger
The Foreign Office in Berlin said that Germany supports African efforts to solve the crisis in Niger. They support the two-pronged approach decided by the Ecowas heads of state, on the one hand to continue the mediation efforts and at the same time to activate the Ecowas standby force. “We support this Ecowas approach, in particular that the states want to exhaust all diplomatic means to achieve a solution to the crisis.” According to the information, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wants to introduce EU sanctions against the putschists.
Niger, a country with around 26 million inhabitants and one of the poorest populations in the world, was one of the last democratic partners of the USA and European states in the Sahel region on the southern edge of the Sahara before the coup. France and the US have important military bases in the country, which is also on a key migration route to Europe.
