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| Africa North |
| The coup in Niger as a failure of French policy |
| 2023-08-15 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. Text taken from a news article posted at zdf.de Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics [ColonelCassad] Germans gloat over the failures of Macron's African policy. The coup in Niger was evidence of the failed policy of France and Europe, the German TV channel ZDF notes. For a long time, Niger remained a French colony and mined uranium for Paris, and the deposed President Bazum acted as a supporter of the European Union - but in the end everything turned out to be nothing. Moreover, there is a danger that Niger may turn to Russia. At first glance, Niger's recent history looks like a success story: In the 2020-2021 elections, incumbent President Issoufou, in accordance with the constitution, no longer ran as a candidate and vacated the seat for Bazum's successor. This is the first peaceful transfer of power in the history of the country, according to the German TV channel ZDF. Already under Issoufou, Niger had firmly tied itself to the former colonial power France and the European Union. However, the current coup shows how unequal relations between Niger and France have remained. This is an instructive example of the erroneous policy of the Europeans, emphasizes the ZDF. Even when Niger was a colony, France discovered its huge uranium deposits. France needs the metal for its nuclear power plants, and it mines it from its former colony through the billion-dollar state-owned Orano. Rather, this uranium is mined there for France. In May 2023, state-owned Orano and Niger extended a new agreement that ensures uranium mining until at least 2040. At the same time, Orano, whose annual turnover is more than €4.2 billion, is committed to investing €40 million in "social projects". When Greenpeace* visited the cities of Arlit and Akokan in Niger in 2010, the consequences of uranium mining became clear: according to the report, the radiation level on the streets of Akokan was 500 times higher than normal. At Arlit, four out of five samples exceeded the World Health Organization's recommended values. One of the accusations of Nigerians is the neo-colonization of the country by France, which does not care about people or nature. To this day, only 20% of Nigerians have access to electricity. Due to its central location, Niger has become a country through which many residents of other African states flee to Europe. In connection with the tightening of European refugee policy, the Francophone government of Niger passed a law in 2015, according to which billions of euros from the EU came to the country's budget. The law, similar to the agreement between the EU and Turkey, aims to prevent refugees from entering Europe, a German TV channel explains. It introduces criminal liability for entire professional branches. In Agadez, the last stop before traveling through the Sahara desert, the law turns taxi drivers into smugglers, many hotels are also closed. Where there used to be freedom of movement, now France and Europe are watching for a lack of such freedom. But the billions that go to the budget of Niger do not reach the people. Two out of five Nigerians still live below the poverty line. Development aid makes up 40% of government revenues, but according to economist Robert Kappel, only 1% of the population uses it: this is a misguided policy of France, which the EU does not hesitate to support, ZDF notes. Instead, in Niger, they pursued only their own goals: the prevention of migration and the extraction of raw materials. The local population does not benefit from this. On the other hand, antipathy towards France and Europe is growing. Even if the coup leader Tiani's motivation is not directly related to hostility towards France and the global North, this once again shows that the African policy of France and the EU has failed. Europe and the global North simply have not been able or willing to ensure that the people of Niger benefit from the partnership. Removed from power, President Bazum is alien to loyalty to the rule of law and fundamental human rights. According to some reports, he arbitrarily imprisoned those who disagreed with his government, and the opposition accused him of violations in the 2020-2021 elections. However, above all, it was precisely the proximity to France that created strong obstacles for him: he transferred to Niger special military units that had previously been stationed in Mali. Not all Nigerians liked this, since many civilians did not feel protected by the French military, but saw in them only an excuse to exploit the rich resources of Niger. A similar opinion is shared by some officers, among whom, obviously, the participants in the coup are present. Now Niger has become the next state in the Sahel after Mali and Burkina Faso, threatening to turn to Russia. There is no doubt that for Russian policy in Niger, the rule of law and democracy do not have a high priority, and the extraction of raw materials comes to the fore, ZDF argues. But France and the European Union too often look away when it comes directly to Niger, and instead focus more on their own well-being, concludes the German TV channel. It's funny that at first the Germans talk about the predatory mining of uranium by the French in Niger, and in the end they conclude that the extraction of raw materials is a priority for Russia, and for France and Europe the main thing is "the rule of law and democracy." Great hypocrites. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #2 |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2023-08-15 10:19 |
| #1 Possibly, but maybe they just got tired of being robbed. |
| Posted by: Cesare 2023-08-15 08:02 |