AMID the coup d’état in Niger, France begins evacuating its citizens from the African country, a day after neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso said any outside intervention to restore the ousted government would be seen as a declaration of war.
Earlier this week, 3 French planes arrived in Niamey, the capital of Niger, and the first plane left on Tuesday evening carrying French citizens and other European nationals.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said there are 262 people on board the said plane, an Airbus A330, including a dozen babies.
This involved the Macron government cooperating with coup leaders to coordinate the evacuations and navigate Niger’s closed air space.
With the country’s airspace and airports closed to all flights, foreign nationals in Niger are unable to leave the country by their own means. The only way out is on evacuation flights and those who want to leave are asked to take only a small bag with just essentials as they cannot take a suitcase.
This comes amid safety fears after dozens of Nigerien demonstrators burned French flags and stormed the country’s embassy in Niamey on Sunday morning.
An estimated 600 French citizens have expressed their desire to be evacuated from the African country in the coming days. Roughly 400 Europeans of various nationalities have also requested evacuations.
However, the European Union has not yet issued a formal evacuation order.
The EU will keep its presence in Niger and is monitoring the situation in the country.
On July 26th, soldiers ousted Mohamed Bazoum, the country’s democratically elected president, declaring that his government had been dissolved.
2 days later, General Abdourahamane Tiani, the commander of Niger’s presidential guard was appointed head of state by a governing council formed by military forces.
Following the military takeover, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the coup, called for the immediate and unconditional release of Bazoum, and urged all sides to show restraint.
Mali, Burkina Faso would come to Niger’s defense in event of outside intervention
However, the military governments of neighboring countries Mali and Burkina Faso warned that any outside intervention to restore the ousted government would be seen as a declaration of war.
West African Regional Bloc Ecowas has threatened to use force to reinstate Bazoum, while Mali and Burkina Faso said they would come to Niger’s defense.
A declaration by the 2 neighboring countries earlier this week also suggested a new alliance may be forming in opposition to the rest of the 15-member-state bloc.
Niger bans uranium, gold exports to France
On other Niger updates, its military government banned the export of uranium and gold to France on Sunday and the order took “immediate effect”. This comes after Paris suspended aid to Niamey following the coup.
Niger is one of the world’s 7th largest uranium and gold producers, accounting for 5% of global output, according to the world nuclear association. French media reports say the country accounts for 15-17% of the uranium used in France to generate electricity.
According to the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM), there is no immediate threat to nuclear power production if Niger suspends supplies because utilities in the EU have enough uranium stocks to fuel nuclear power reactors for 3 years.
However, it can be expected that global Uranium prices are likely to rise.
