The European Union moves towards sanctions against the putschists in Niger

Brussels

The European Union is preparing sanctions against the junta responsible for the July 26 coup in Niger. Meeting informally in Toledo in Spain, to also take stock of aid to Ukraine, the Foreign Ministers of the Twenty-Seven gave the green light to a new framework of targeted individual sanctions, targeting the authors of putsch of July 26 or all those preventing the return to constitutional order and the re-establishment of President Bazoum.

Inspired by the sanctions already applied by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), whose President Omar Alieu Touray had also been invited to Toledo, they should include the suspension of financial transactions, the freezing of assets or EU travel bans. It will take several more weeks for them to materialize and enter into force, the idea at this stage being to equip ourselves with the architecture of sanctions to send a "first message" to the putschists, said a diplomat.

The initiative for these sanctions was taken in early August at the instigation of Paris and Berlin. But the EU will not impose any punishment on the population “already punished elsewhere” by the coup, High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell explained on Thursday, as Nigeriens begin to suffer from the economic blockage on certain goods. imposed by ECOWAS. For the High Representative, this meeting again made it possible to recall "full support for France", which defends its ambassador on the spot and "full support for ECOWAS and all the proposals addressed to the EU", between sanctions or solutions diplomatic.

But while Paris supports any military action that ECOWAS would consider to restore Mohamed Bazoum, European ministers and the High Representative were a little more cautious on Thursday. If Josep Borrell did not exclude that the EU could support such an intervention, in financial form for example, the Twenty-Seven support “the diplomatic way” above all. "Nobody wants a military intervention," he said. This informal meeting, limited in announcements and progress, in any case allowed the ministers to start discussing how the EU can better anticipate and respond to these coups d'etat which have multiplied in the Sahel.

On Wednesday, the Twenty-seven had in fact once again been taken by surprise by the events in Gabon, not yet being able to position themselves. However, the events worry Josep Borrell a little less, which he attributes above all to unfair elections when the situation is much more serious in Niger. “It is clear that things did not go well. It is clear that we cannot say that it was a success because we see the proliferation of military coups and the presence of Wagner in the Central African Republic, in Mali, in Burkina Faso”, had thus explained the Spanish at the start of the meeting. “We are going to have to review our policy in depth”.