EU foreign ministers are meeting in Spain today, Thursday, to discuss how to respond to last month's coup in Niger, including the possibility of imposing sanctions, while also considering news of Gabonese military officers declaring their seizure of power. The instability in West and Central African countries will be a key topic in the informal meeting being held in Toledo, Spain, alongside discussions about the war in Ukraine with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
Hassoumi Massoudou, the foreign minister of the ousted Nigerien government, and Omar Touray, the president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, will attend the talks. Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, told reporters in Toledo on Wednesday: "It is clear that the coup in Niger marks the beginning of a new era of instability in a region that was already very fragile, and this will undermine the stability of the region."
Over the past decade, West and Central African nations have made significant strides in shedding the reputation of being a "coup belt," but ongoing insecurity, disputed election outcomes, and corruption have opened the door to a series of military coups. European officials noted they are still trying to understand the events unfolding in Gabon that began to emerge early Wednesday.
Borrell stated that the EU is "moving forward" in working on a legal framework to impose sanctions on the military council in Niger, and that foreign ministers would discuss this on Thursday. Both the EU and ECOWAS have already imposed economic and political sanctions on Niger, but the framework will allow the EU to target specific individuals and organizations. Borrell mentioned after a meeting of EU defense ministers that the EU would seek to mirror any actions taken by ECOWAS.
Diplomats indicated that the meeting could also address the EU's response if ECOWAS requests financial assistance for military intervention to restore the ousted government in Niger. In response to a question about whether the EU would support military intervention, Borrell replied: "That will be discussed too, but of course, we need to know what, how, when, where, and in what manner it will take place. We cannot write blank checks."
