Niger Ruling Junta Applaud France’s Troop Pullout Announcement

Following a coup in Niger in July, President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday that France will withdraw its troops from the country, striking a severe blow to French influence and counterinsurgency efforts in the Sahel.

By the end of the year, 1,500 troops would leave, according to Macron, who also stated that France, a former colonial power in Niger, would not allow itself to “be held hostage by the putschists.”

The declaration was hailed by the military government of Niger as “a new step toward sovereignty.”

France’s departure, which follows weeks of junta pressure and widespread protests, is likely to increase Western concerns about Russia’s growing sway in Africa. The Wagner mercenary group from Russia is already active in Niger’s neighbor Mali.

“This Sunday, we celebrate a new step toward the sovereignty of Niger,” said a statement from the country’s military rulers, who seized power in late July by overthrowing President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26.

“The French troops and the ambassador of France will leave Nigerien soil by the end of the year.”

The announcement, which was read aloud on public television, continued, “This is a historic moment, which speaks to the determination and will of the Nigerien people.”

Before Macron’s announcement on Sunday, ASECNA, the organization in charge of regulating aviation safety in Africa, declared that the military authorities in Niger had forbidden “French aircraft” from entering the nation’s airspace.

The French president stated that Paris would coordinate the withdrawal of troops with the leaders of the coup but refused to acknowledge the junta as the legitimate government of Niger. In an interview with French television networks TF1 and France 2, Macron stated, “We will talk with the putschists because we want things to be orderly.

Macron noted that France’s ambassador was also being recalled and would do so within the next two hours.

In recent years, as public animosity has increased, French control over its former colonies in West Africa has decreased. Since the coups in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso, its forces have been expelled from both nations, diminishing its influence in the regional conflict against deadly Islamist insurgencies.

To fight an Islamist insurgency in the larger Sahel region of West and Central Africa, France, and the United States had relied on Niger as a base before the coup.