The new Nigerian foreign minister has told the ambassadors of France, Germany, America, Ghana and Nigeria that they must leave the country. The ambassadors were given 48 hours to leave.
The new Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in letters to the ambassadors, explained why, among other things, their governments were “inconsistent with Niger’s interests”.
Earlier in the day it was announced that the French ambassador had to leave the country. More countries added Sunday night.
Since the coup a month ago, there has been strong anti-French sentiment. Supporters of the coup plotters demonstrated several times against France at the embassy and military base. France is the former colonizer of the country.
The French government has spoken out against the coup and wants the former president reinstated. Like the rest of the European Union, France stopped development aid and economic cooperation in Niger after the coup.
More than a thousand French soldiers are still stationed in Niger. They help fight jihadist groups, but the new military council soon halted this military cooperation.
Paris supports the Economic Community of West African States. And it is the Union of West African States that wants to intervene if the situation in Niger does not improve. The military council accuses the Economic Community of West African States of allowing itself to be used by the French colonial vehicle.
