France is set to support any efforts, including military intervention, made by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to restore constitutional order in Niger, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday.
“We support the diplomatic and, if it is decided, the military activity of ECOWAS,” he said, adding that Paris will not drop its support for legitimately elected President Mohamed Bazoum.
The French leader called on Niger’s residents not to be misled by the junta’s narrative that France is an enemy to Niger. The problem for Niger’s population, in his words, is that the rebels put them at risk by “refusing to fight terrorism and moving away from beneficial economic policy.” This is why the country is “losing international financing that would help them out of poverty,” he noted.
At the same time, Macron lambasted criticism coming from “Washington and other European capitals,” as well as from the mass media that France is over-supporting President Bazoum. “We cannot expect other African capitals to listen to us if we don’t support a political leader should he be faced with this (a state coup – TASS),” he stressed.
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