Home Country Ambassador Also Ordered to Return
French President Emmanuel Macron announced on the 24th (local time) that France will suspend military cooperation with Niger in Africa, where a coup d'?tat occurred, and withdraw 1,500 troops.
According to major foreign media such as the AP News, President Macron stated in an interview with French broadcasters TF1 and 2TV on the same day, "We have also decided to immediately recall the French ambassador and diplomats back to the home country."
President Macron said, "We will suspend military cooperation with the Niger authorities and gradually withdraw troops by the end of the year," adding, "I have informed Niger President Mohamed Bazoum of this." He also mentioned that the French ambassador will return to France within a few hours.
France has maintained a military force of about 1,500 troops in Niger, which was at the request of the Niger government, according to President Macron.
President Macron said he still considers only President Bazoum, who was democratically elected, to have legitimacy and legality. Since the Niger military seized power in a coup on July 26, they have ordered the expulsion of the French ambassador stationed in Niger and demanded the withdrawal of French troops, causing conflict with France.
President Macron said that recently diplomats have been hiding in the embassy, surviving on military rations.
AP News and others analyzed that this withdrawal decision will deal a significant blow to France's counterterrorism operations in the Sahel region. France had stationed up to 5,100 troops in Sahel countries such as Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger, which were former French colonies, but its influence has recently declined sharply.
Since last year, as the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary company, gained influence in Mali and Burkina Faso, where military governments took power through coups, France withdrew all troops and relocated its base to Niger.
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