France assures that it has no intention of evacuating its citizens from Niger after protests at its Embassy

The French Foreign Minister, Catherine Colonna, has assured this Sunday that the Government has no intention of evacuating its citizens from Niger after the protests at its Embassy in Niamey, as she declared during an interview on the RTL network.

“There is no decision to evacuate (…). The era of coups in Africa must end. Is not acceptable. They threaten the security of the country and the stability of the region. France, as always, protects its citizens,” added Colonna.

There are currently between 500 and 600 French citizens in Niger, not counting the French troops from the anti-terrorist operation Barkhane, who arrived from Mali a few months ago.

“They have all been contacted. Precautionary measures are taken, as always in these situations. These measures will be reinforced if necessary, but there is no evacuation decision at the time I am speaking to you,” the minister said, referring to the French who are still in the country.

On Sunday, a demonstration of thousands of people gathered around the French Embassy in the country's capital, where the participants, cheering for Russia and President Vladimir Putin, stoned the diplomatic mission and set fire to one of the their tickets, in addition to having displayed slogans against France.

That is why the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, stated this Sunday that he “will not tolerate any attack against France and its interests” and that Paris “will immediately respond” to any act of violence against “French citizens, the Army , diplomats and French rights of way”.

The protests take place on a day when the heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have suspended all their relations with Niger after the coup in a harsh statement warning the coup leaders that they have a period of seven days to restore the now ousted Mohamed Bazoum as president of the country or else they will take additional measures, among which do not rule out the use of force.

The European Union appeals to the constitutional order

The French government had already announced this Saturday, in unison with the European Union, the suspension of humanitarian and security aid to Niger and demanded that the coup leaders immediately restore constitutional order.

Mohamed Bazoum has been held since Wednesday, when a group of members of the Presidential Guard of Niger staged a coup. This action has been motivated by the deepening of the economic and security crisis in the country, which is facing an increase in the operations of the branches of the terrorist groups Islamic State and Al Qaeda.

The coup has once again fueled concerns about political instability in Niger, a country that has been rocked by four other coups since it gained independence from France in 1960, as well as several failed attempts, the last of which was in 2021. days before Bazoum took office.