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| Africa North |
| Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger announce their withdrawal from ECOWAS |
| 2024-01-29 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [Regnum] Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have decided to leave the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Reuters reported this on January 28. “Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso said they were leaving the ECOWAS regional bloc,” the publication said. A joint statement by the three countries expressed disappointment with ECOWAS's retreat from its ideals and the influence of Western countries on the organization, and noted that the organization did not help the Sahel countries in the fight against terrorism, but only complicated the situation with sanctions. Niger's military-appointed Prime Minister Ali Mahamane Lamine Zein accused ECOWAS of dishonesty on 25 January following the failure of a negotiating mission that was scheduled to arrive in Niamey that day. The community delegation said it was unable to attend the talks due to a technical problem with the aircraft. As Regnum reported, a coup took place in Niger on July 26, 2023. The military removed President Mohamed Bazoum from governing the country and blocked him from his residence. During the coup, General Abdurahman Tchiani signed a decree on the formation of a new transitional government. After this, ECOWAS threatened the new authorities of Niger with a military operation for some time, and then imposed sanctions against the country. At the end of December 2023, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zein stated that Niger intended to resume negotiations with ECOWAS in January and called on the organization to lift the restrictions. The Niger delegation led by the country's new prime minister arrived in Moscow on January 16. According to Mondafrique, the purpose of the trip of representatives of the African country is to “diversify” the circle of partners. Niger authorities want to explore opportunities for cooperation in various fields, including defense, agriculture, energy, health and oil. More and related from regnum.ru Pentagon cancels exercises with militaries of six African countries The Pentagon abandoned joint exercises with the military of six African countries - Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Niger and Sudan, the intention to conduct which as of December 20 was still in the plans of the defense department. The press service of the US Department of Defense statedthis in response to a request from the Washington Post. Government costs for the exercise were expected to be "millions of dollars," according to documents that have not been made public. At the same time, we are talking about a number of “problem” countries in which democratic governments have been overthrown or charges of human rights violations have been brought against them, including extrajudicial killings and mass rape - US law prohibits the provision of security assistance to such states. Earlier this week, Congressmen Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) demanded assurances from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that troops from post-coup countries would not participate in joint exercises with the United States. The publication noted that the sudden change in the Pentagon's plans could be the result of criticism of the White House by Democrats. As Regnum reported, NATO spokesman Dylan White on January 24 announced the start of NATO's largest military exercise in a decade, Steadfast Defender 2024. The US Navy landing ship Gunston Hall also participates in them. As the Commander-in-Chief of NATO's joint forces in Europe, General Christopher Cavoli, clarified, they will involve 90 thousand military personnel from countries that are members of the alliance. At the same time, Britain was going to send more than 20 thousand of its military personnel to participate in Steadfast Defender 2024. Sweden, which has applied to join the North Atlantic Alliance in May 2022, will also participate in the exercises. According to media reports, Steadfast Defender 2024 will simulate the start of the third world war. The legend of the exercise suggests that a fictional state will attack one of the NATO countries. Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said on January 25 that Moscow understands the true goals of the NATO exercises and who they are aimed at. He emphasized that Moscow never “wore rose-colored glasses.” The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, emphasized that NATO’s plans to conduct large-scale exercises near the borders of Russia are an outright provocation and pose a threat to Europe. Related: Economic Community of West African States: 2023-12-16 Niger: '’content'' of transition ''agreed'' before ECOWAS opinion Economic Community of West African States: 2023-12-16 Niger: West African court orders Mohamed Bazoum's ''immediate'' release Economic Community of West African States: 2023-12-10 Niger: General Abdourahamane Tiani on official visit to Togo |
| Posted by:badanov |