Fractured region
All three regimes have had tense ties with the bloc since coups took place in Niger last July, Burkina Faso in 2022 and Mali in 2020.
The Burkina Faso Foreign Ministry, in a similar letter to ECOWAS, reiterated “the decision to withdraw without delay” and its “irreversible” nature.
Ouagadougou cited “serious failings” on the part of the organisation and, in particular, “sanctions” taken with “a clear intention to destroy the economies of countries in transition”.
The Niger authorities also confirmed their immediate withdrawal in a letter sent to the organisation last week and considered Article 91 to be null and void, according to a government source contacted by the AFP news agency.
ECOWAS is to hold a ministerial-level meeting in Abuja on Thursday to discuss the political and security situation in the region.
The military regimes in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger had already been suspended by ECOWAS after their civilian governments were overthrown.
The regional bloc has tried in vain to impose the return of civilian rule, leading the three capitals to accuse ECOWAS of posing a threat to their sovereignty.
The organisation went so far as to threaten to use force in Niger, where the military overthrew the elected president Mohamed Bazoum.
However, the three states came together and formed the Alliance of Sahel States [AES] under the banner of sovereignty and pan-Africanism.
The military regimes have also accused former colonial power France of instrumentalising ECOWAS. They pushed out French ambassadors and forces while turning politically and militarily towards Moscow.
Source link : https://www.trtworld.com/africa/burkina-faso-mali-and-niger-reject-ecowas-one-year-period-to-leave-16898190
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Publish date : 2024-02-07 23:16:51
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