France to evacuate French nationals from Niger
France has planned to soon evacuate its nationals from Niger in the wake of a military coup against the pro-West government there and protesters' attack on its embassy in Niamey.
"Considering the ongoing coup in Niger and the fact that the situation continues to be worrying, we decided to make sure that the French citizens who want to leave Niger can do so," French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told France's LCI TV on Tuesday, adding that evacuations would be carried out by planes.
She said there had been talks with the coupsters to make sure the evacuation could proceed safely.
"An operation of this kind requires getting in touch with those who are in control," she said, adding that it in no way meant any recognition of the coupsters.
Colonna noted hundreds of French citizens and hundreds of citizens from other EU countries wanted to be evacuated.
She said evacuations will start later in the day and would be over in the next 24 hours.
Paris’s decision was announced by the foreign ministry after protesters stormed the French embassy in Niamey on Monday.
This took place during a mass protest to demand the withdrawal of French and other Western troops from Niger.
The country is France’s last outpost in Africa’s Sahel region after Paris had to pull out its forces from former colonies Mali and Burkina Faso in the wake of the 2021 and 2022 coups.
In addition, Italy, France and Germany said they were making preparations to evacuate their citizens from Niger after last week’s coup in the African country that toppled President Mohamed Bazoum and his democratically elected government last Wednesday.
It was the seventh military takeover in less than three years in West and Central Africa.
In the meantime, Niger's borders have been closed to commercial flights since the coup has sent shockwaves across the Sahel region, where Niger's Western allies fear losing influence to Russia, and has raised security fears as militant extremists groups linked to Daesh and al Qaeda have been gaining ground in the area for years.
Paris has had troops in the Sahel for a decade helping to fight an extremist insurgency, but some locals say they want the former colonial ruler to stop intervening in their affairs. The United States has also had its military troops deployed in the African country.
In the meantime, protesters burned French flags and attacked the French embassy in Niger's capital, Niamey, on Sunday prompting police to fire volleys of tear gas in response.
The protesters marched through the streets and gathered outside the French embassy, forcefully denouncing former colonial power France before storming the embassy and setting a door of it on fire, according to a local source and videos seen by The Associated Press.
Protesters attempted to enter the embassy building but the Nigerian army stopped them. However, smoke could be seen rising from across the city.
France condemned what it called the violence that erupted around its embassy in Niger, where the junta seized power this week in a coup and demanded that local authorities protect the building.
“Nigerian forces have an obligation to ensure the security of our diplomatic missions and consulates as part of the Vienna convention,” the French Foreign Ministry said on Sunday, condemning “all violence against diplomatic missions.”
Colonna had told France's BFM TV late on Monday that the protest in front of the embassy and the ensuing accusations that France shot at the crowd - which it denies - "have all the usual ingredients of destabilization, the Russian-African way".
Russia, for its part, said the situation in Niger was "cause for serious concern" and called for a swift return to constitutional order.
West African heads of state were set to meet in Nigeria's capital on Sunday for an urgent summit to decide on further measures to pressure the army to restore constitutional order.
The 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional bloc, and the eight-member West African Economic and Monetary Union could suspend Niger from its institutions, cut off the country from the regional central bank and financial market, and close borders.
Ahead of the summit, the coup leaders in Niger on Saturday night warned in a statement -- which was read on Niger national television on Saturday night -- against any military intervention.
"The objective of the (ECOWAS) meeting is to approve a plan of aggression against Niger through an imminent military intervention in Niamey in collaboration with other African countries that are nonmembers of ECOWAS, and certain Western countries," junta spokesperson Colonel Amadou Abdramane said.
The coup in Niger has drawn condemnation from its neighbors and international partners including the United States, the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union and former colonial power France who have all refused to recognize the new leaders and have demanded that Bazoum be restored to power.
Niger is the world's seventh-biggest producer of uranium, the radioactive metal widely used for nuclear energy and treating cancer.
A spokesperson for the EU Commission said EU utilities had sufficient inventories of natural uranium to mitigate any short-term supply risks.
French nuclear fuels company Orano said its activities were continuing in Niger and would not be affected by the evacuations, as 99 percent of staff were Nigerien nationals.
ECOWAS has imposed sanctions, including border closure, a halt in all financial transactions and a national assets freeze, and said it could authorize force to reinstate Bazoum, who is still locked in his palace.
However, the juntas of neighboring Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea all voiced their support for the coup's leaders on Monday.
France, however, threatened to retaliate if its citizens or interests were attacked and said it would back all regional initiatives to restore order in Niger.
"Should anyone attack French nationals, the army, diplomats and French interests, they will see France respond in an immediate and intractable manner," the French presidency said.
The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borell announced on Saturday the suspension of security cooperation with Niger coup leader on Saturday, saying that the bloc would not acknowledge “the authorities from the putsch in Niger.”
"All cooperation in the security field is suspended indefinitely with immediate effect" in addition to the end to budgetary aid, he said.
Niger is one of the world’s poorest countries and relies on hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance every year.
France, Niger's former colonial power, has 1,500 soldiers in the country, while the United States has around 1,000 troops on the ground.
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