According to Jean-Francois Hasperue, the French ambassador to Nigeria, his nation backs the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government’s February decision to withdraw sanctions against Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.
This was said by the French envoy in an Abuja interview.
Following the armed takeover of power in three Sahelian nations in 2023, ECOWAS imposed harsh sanctions on those nations.
Just one month after the three nations announced their intention to leave the sub-regional bloc and establish the Alliance of Sahel States, a rival organization, ECOWAS officials, however, revoked the decision in February.
According to Mr. Hasperue, France will help ECOWAS in whatever way it can to handle the situation involving Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso so as to keep them in the subregional organization.
Accordingly, we supported ECOWAS’s February decision to extend diplomatic ties to these nations, Mr. Hasperue stated. France and the European Union support sub-regional organizations such as ECOWAS in their political decisions as a matter of principle.
“When the East African Community was instructed to try to assist with the situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, or DRC, we did the same for them. Therefore, the world community supports regions that choose their own course in politics.
In Africa, we tackle problems and emergencies in a collaborative manner. We have been assisting ECOWAS and all of its member nations in their efforts to improve the circumstances and find solutions.
The French diplomat clarified that France had no say in the heads of state of the ECOWAS’s decision to impose sanctions on the three Sahelian nations in August 2023. He went on, “I mean, ECOWAS merely determined that the situation in the Sahara region was too much after looking at it.
They made the decision to attempt to put an end to the military coups d’état because they were become too frequent, but France had no say or control over the choices made.
“They (ECOWAS members) are independent nations that decide on behalf of the organization in unanimity. They believed that the string of coups d’état posed a threat to the sub-region.
In addition, Mr. Hasperue stated that these military juntas’ inability to effectively combat terrorism posed a threat to the subregion’s security and stability.
Additionally, there existed the notion that the actions of terrorist organizations would extend to neighboring countries. “And, as I said earlier, as friends, we will support the decision,” he continued. We have all adopted that orientation collectively.
