In view of the threat of military intervention by the West African community of states Ecowas, the military junta in Niger has closed the country’s airspace. A statement by the junta’s spokesman on national television Sunday night said any attempt to violate airspace would be met immediately and vigorously. The reason for the step are the increasingly clear threats of intervention from neighboring countries.
An ultimatum from Ecowas to the military junta, which has been in power in Niger since a coup d’état at the end of July, expired at the weekend. The group of states had called on the new rulers in Niger to reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum and restore constitutional order within a week. The group would otherwise take measures that could include violence, it said. It was initially unclear when the group of states wanted to decide on their further course of action and a possible military deployment. Such an approach is controversial in the region. In addition, such a mission by the group in Niger, with its 26 million inhabitants and about three times the area of Germany, would probably be a great challenge.
Italy called on the West African community to extend their ultimatum to the putschists in Niger. “The only way is diplomatic,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told the newspaper La Stampa. “I hope that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) ultimatum, which expired at midnight last night, will be extended today.”
For its part, the junta announced at the weekend that it had filled important positions in the armed forces with its own followers.
Support for the putschists is growing among the population. According to reports from the French broadcaster RFI, around 30,000 people gathered at the General Seyni Kountché stadium in the capital Niamey on Sunday to protest against the Ecowas sanctions. As early as Sunday night, young people joined together to form vigilante groups, as a reporter from the German Press Agency reported.
On July 26, officers of the Presidential Guard in Niger declared the democratically elected President Bazoum ousted. The commander of the elite unit, General Omar Tchiani, subsequently proclaimed himself the new ruler. Shortly after taking power, the putschists suspended the constitution and dissolved all constitutional institutions.
Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune issued a warning over the weekend, according to the newspaper El-Bilad and the news site Ennahar, military intervention in Niger could destabilize the entire Sahel zone. Tebboune therefore strictly ruled out Algeria’s participation in a military intervention.
The Ecowas alliance has conducted military operations on several occasions
According to French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, despite the worsening of the situation, French soldiers are not expected to withdraw from Niger. She warned those in power in Niger not to take the Ecowas threat seriously. The new junta had previously terminated military cooperation with the former colonial power. France still has around 1,500 soldiers stationed there. The United States has about 1,000 soldiers on site, the Bundeswehr about 100. Niger was one of the last western allies in the Sahel zone, which had been destabilized by Islamist terrorist groups.
Colonna’s warning about Ecowas’ actions is not unfounded. The group has set up military intervention troops several times in the past. The group last intervened in The Gambia in 2017. However, military Ecowas operations have so far always been carried out at the invitation of the government concerned. The military governments in Mali and Burkina Faso, on the other hand, quickly sided with the new rulers in Niger. The membership of the two countries in Ecowas has been suspended. The French Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday that it would suspend all development and budget support measures for Burkina Faso until further notice.