The image, in the early hours of the morning, of a group of Gabonese army officers on the country’s public television announcing that they had taken power after learning of Ali Bongo’s electoral victory yesterday added a more cause for concern for Europe due to the deterioration of the political situation in sub-Saharan Africa.
The latest events, added to the evident fragility of some governments, have caused the European Union to rethink its role in the Sahel, where it helps several countries to fight against jihadism. Even before the signs of the military coup in Gabon became known, the issue was on the agenda of the informal meeting that the European Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs have been holding since yesterday in Toledo, under the auspices of the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union.
“The situation has taken us all by surprise this morning”, he pointed out when the high representative of European Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, arrived, who warned that the possible military coup “will increase instability” in a region that is already finds himself in a “very difficult” situation. “The situation in sub-Saharan Africa is not exactly improving, starting with the Central African Republic, then Mali, Burkina Faso, now Niger and maybe Gabon…”, he reviewed. In December, he might have added, there was also a coup attempt in Chad.
The EU will respond with short- and medium-term measures to the seizure of power by a military junta on July 26 in Niger, a country whose armed and police forces it has supported for years in its fight against Islamic terrorism. On the one hand, it is ready to give light to sanctions against the coup plotters that will be in line with the decisions taken by organizations and governments in the region. And, on the other hand, with an urgent internal reflection on European policy towards the region, as well as its military presence in different African countries after years of supporting the armed forces of countries that, in some cases, have finished with coups d’état. “Without the European support of recent years, perhaps some of these countries would no longer exist”, defended Borrell to questions from the press. “No one can give a guarantee of what will happen in the future, but we need to support legal governments”, he said, as was done in Mali and Niger.
The future of EU military and police missions in the region is also being debated. “It is necessary to continue to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the situation”, pointed out for her part the Spanish Minister of Defence, Margarita Robles, who recalled that Spain participates with troops in EU military missions in Mali, Somalia and the Central African Republic. “The coup d’état in Niger and what has happened in Gabon means that we have to wait until we have all the elements of judgment on the table so that, seriously, we study our military missions”. Robles did not rule out withdrawing part of the Spanish forces in the region, particularly from Mali, but always “depending on what the EU decides”, because Spain is present there “as part of European missions”. However, he clarified, “the EU cannot remain on the sidelines of the Sahel”. Any “gap” in security “could be exploited by hostile actors”, Robles warned.
The growing instability in the region is “a big issue for Europe”, admitted with obvious concern the head of European diplomacy, who considered that the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner mercenaries, does not mean the end of the interventions from Moscow on the continent. The group “will quickly find a replacement” and “will continue to be operational in Africa, because it is the armed arm of Russia there.”
For Europe, its own security and the future of migratory flows are at stake. An internal preparatory document for the meeting proposes to reflect on “how to safeguard our interests and objectives in the field of security to combat terrorism and counter the influence of the Wagner Group, and control irregular immigration at a time when three central states of the Sahel are governed by military juntas and there are radical armed groups that seek territorial expansion”.
The situation in the Sahel and the response to the military coup in Niger will be some of the topics that European foreign ministers will address today. Although no decisions are taken at informal ministerial meetings, community services are already working on the preparation of sanctions against Niger’s military junta, and the EU’s External Action Service will put proposals on the table, which will reflect the restrictive measures already adopted by the Economic Community of West African States (CEDAO).
Countries associated with the organization have suspended trade with Niger and frozen reserves at the regional central bank, as well as the assets of some state-owned companies. The EU, for its part, responded by suspending financial aid to the country and cooperation in security, in addition to paralyzing the contribution of 70 million euros in armaments that the EU was prepared to make through of the European Peace Mechanism, created, despite the ambiguous name, to acquire weapons for countries in conflict. What the EU is now preparing is a new legal basis for imposing sanctions on specific individuals and organizations considered responsible for the coup.
In Europe, governments and institutions agree to support “African solutions for African problems” – that is to say, that any response or solution to the crisis must come from and be directed by Africa – and to “value” any request for help that ECOWAS may make, but with limits. “At the moment there has been no request for support for an eventual military response”, specified Borrell. In his opinion, “it is clear that the coup in Niger opens a new era of instability in a region that was already very fragile”
