The Nigerien ultimatum to the French ambassador has expired. What will happen now?
The two-day term granted by the military administration of Niger to the French ambassador to the country expired on Sunday.
Amid heightened tensions in the weeks following the ouster of the West African nation's democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum last month, the military administration's foreign ministry has given Ambassador Sylvain Itte 48 hours to "leave Nigerien territory" .
This ultimatum, which also involves the US and German representations, has expired. At this point or the
Niger was plunged into chaos on July 26 when General Abdourahamane Tchiani, former commander of the presidential guard, led a military intervention that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.
In the meantime there have also been popular demonstrations in Niamey , precisely aimed at supporting the military junta and against France, which certainly do not calm the climate.
France has launched an operation to evacuate its citizens, as well as other citizens, from the capital Niamey, but this does not concern diplomatic personnel. In addition, France still has a military mission in Niger, with about 1,500 soldiers, plus a thousand US soldiers.
At this point we need to see the next move: Paris refuses to withdraw its ambassador, as well as the US one. ECOWAS has set a date for the action, although it has not been made public, and the Niger junta has no intention of leaving power.
This seems like an absolute stalemate, a sort of obligatory path towards military conflict, but it is not certain: certainly, behind the steel facade, negotiations are underway to avoid a military confrontation that would be devastating for all parties involved.
Thanks to our Telegram channel you can stay updated on the publication of new articles from Economic Scenarios.
The article The Nigerien ultimatum to the French ambassador has expired. What will happen now? comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/scaduto-lultimatum-nigerino-allambasciatore-francese-che-accadra-ora/ on Sun, 27 Aug 2023 20:38:00 +0000.