The Governments of Burkina Faso and Mali have issued a joint statement in defense of the Nigerien coup. The statement, released on July 31, 2023, comes in response to the conclusions of the extraordinary summits of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) held on July 30, 2023 in Abuja on the political situation in Niger.
In the statement, the two countries express their fraternal solidarity with the people of Niger who have decided to take their destiny into their own hands and assume the fullness of their sovereignty before history. They denounce the persistence of these regional organizations to impose sanctions that aggravate the suffering of the populations and jeopardize the spirit of Pan-Africanism.
Burkina Faso and Mali also refuse to apply what they tagged as “illegal, illegitimate and inhuman sanctions”against the people and authorities of Niger. They warn that any military intervention against Niger would amount to a declaration of war against Burkina Faso and Mali, and would result in their withdrawal from ECOWAS, as well as the adoption of self-defense measures in support of the armed forces and people of Niger.
The two countries also warn against the disastrous consequences of a military intervention in Niger which could destabilize the entire region, as was the case with the unilateral NATO intervention in Libya which was at the origin of the expansion of terrorism in the Sahel and West Africa.
The Transitional Governments of Burkina Faso and Mali express their deep indignation and surprise at the imbalance observed between, on one hand, the celerity and adventurous attitude of certain political leaders in West Africa wishing to use armed forces to restore constitutional order in a sovereign country, and on the other hand, the inaction, indifference and passive complicity of these organizations and political leaders in helping states and peoples who have been victims of terrorism for a decade and left to their fate.
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Burkina Faso and Mali invite their living forces to be ready and mobilized to lend a hand to the people of Niger in these dark hours of Pan-Africanism.
The statement was signed by The Minister of Communication, Culture, Arts and Tourism for Burkina Faso, who is also Government Spokesperson; as well as The Minister of State for Mali, who is also Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, Government Spokesperson.
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