Defense Minister Pistorius for the first time since the military coup in Niger

Defense Minister Pistorius has landed in Niger, which has been ruled by the military since the coup in July. He wants to visit the Bundeswehr soldiers stationed there – and get clarity about the course of the new rulers.

It is a visit with many question marks: What will happen to the air transport base in Niger’s capital Niamey, where around 120 German soldiers are currently still staying? And how exactly will the federal government deal with the military government that came to power in a coup at the end of July in the future?

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is convinced that the local presence and strategic contacts in the region are important: “Simply leaving is not the solution,” said the SPD politician when he welcomed the Bundeswehr soldiers withdrawn from Niger’s neighboring country Mali last week reception took.

With the troop visit to Niamey, Pistorius wants to underline how much he cares about the safety of the Germans who remain there – and to gain clarity about a convoy with German military goods that is stuck in customs clearance after the withdrawal from Mali.

Military ruler turns to Russia

The talks in Niamey are a political balancing act: after all, the military rulers have clearly shown the EU the cold shoulder and turned to Russia.

No EU country recognizes the coup government. Germany’s closest European ally, France, is withdrawing all troops from Niger by the end of the week. In Paris they prefer a hard line when dealing with the coup plotters.

Experts warn against leaving the field to Moscow

The USA, on the other hand, signaled last week that it could certainly imagine cooperation under certain conditions. Security experts constantly warn about the danger of leaving the field in the Sahel entirely to Moscow. The rulers in Niger demonstratively received a Russian delegation at the beginning of December and announced that military cooperation would be strengthened.

The German Defense Minister visited Niger for the first time in April, under completely different circumstances: Pistorius called Niger “an anchor of stability, which, however, is not indestructible.” He and his then counterpart Alkassoum Indattou praised the decades of close cooperation between the two states in front of the press in the scorching sun. But with the coup, Indattou lost his job and Germany lost another important partner in the Sahel region.