Mali, Burkina back Niger amid ECOWAS threat

Their warning came on the heels of ECOWAS optional military intervention to restore constitutional order in Niger following a military coup d’état.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) held an extraordinary summit on July 30, 2023, in Abuja on the political situation in Niger.

Following the coup, the Niger military heads suspended the Constitution and putting some government officials, including the president in hostage.

The joint paper by the two military governments reads:

“The Transitional Governments of Burkina Faso and Mali:

1. Express their fraternal solidarity and that of the peoples of Burkina Faso and Mali with the brotherly people of NIGER who have decided in full responsibility to take their destiny into their own hands and to assume before history the fullness of their sovereignty;
2. Denounce the persistence of these regional organizations in imposing sanctions aggravating the suffering of the populations and jeopardizing the spirit of Pan-Africanism;
3. Refuse to apply these illegal, illegitimate and inhuman sanctions against the people and authorities of Niger;
4. "Warn that any military intervention against Niger would amount to a declaration of war against Burkina Faso and Mali,
5. Warn that any military intervention against Niger would result in the withdrawal of Burkina Faso and Mali from ECOWAS, as well as the adoption of self-defence measures in support of the armed forces and the people of Niger;  
6. Warn against the disastrous consequences of a military intervention in Niger which could destabilize the entire region as was the unilateral NATO intervention in Libya which was at the origin of the expansion of terrorism in the Sahel and West Africa.”