Ecowas has become a threat to Sahel countries, says Mali
ON JANUARY 28, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali announced their withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) in a joint communiqué.
The three military governments cited the regional organisation’s failure to “provide assistance to our States in the framework of our existential fight against terrorism and insecurity”.
Ecowas has become “a threat” to Sahel countries, Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop told local channel ORTM1, following the withdrawal of his country, Niger and Burkina Faso from the regional bloc.
According to the head of Malian diplomacy, Ecowas “has been used against the institutions of our countries, against our states, against our peoples”.
Diop said that Ecowas had adopted “coercive measures” that had an impact on the population, even going so far as to “threaten military intervention”.
“In the face of these measures, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have made a “choice for survival,” he said.
“We believe that our countries have a greater interest in being outside Ecowas, beyond the reach of its
destabilising actions, so that we can reorganise ourselves and also take advantage of all the opportunities that present themselves to be able to work with those countries that wish to do so,” Diop said.
The countries have had strained relations with Ecowas since the military took power in Mali in 2020, Burkina Faso in 2022 and Niger last year.
Ecowas has imposed heavy sanctions on the latter and threatened to use military force to reinstate the ousted authorities. Ecowas also suspended the three countries from its bodies. |