By Oyintari Ben
The foreign ministers of the European Union are expected to meet today in Spain to debate how to respond to the coup in Niger last month, including potential penalties. They will also consider the news that military officials have declared themselves in control of Gabon.
The informal event in the historic city of Toledo will focus mainly on the unrest in West and Central Africa, as well as conversations with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba about the conflict in Ukraine.
Hassoumi Massoudou, the exiled government of Niger’s foreign minister, and Omar Touray, the chairman of ECOWAS’s panel, will attend the meeting.
According to EU foreign policy leader Josep Borrell, “It is clear that the coup in Niger is ushering in a new era of instability in a region that was already very fragile, and this will undermine the stability of the region.”
Despite efforts by West and Central African countries over the past ten years to eradicate the region’s reputation as a “coup belt,” a series of military coups have been carried out due to ongoing insecurity, contested elections, and entrenched corruption.
European officials stated that they were still attempting to make sense of the spectacular events in Gabon early on Wednesday morning.
According to Borrell, the EU was “moving forward” with the development of a legislative framework for sanctions against the Nigerian junta, and the foreign ministers would continue discussing it on Thursday.
Although the EU could target specific people and organisations, ECOWAS and the EU have already imposed harsh economic and political sanctions on Niger.
Following a meeting of EU defence ministers on Wednesday, Borrell stated that the EU would aim to replicate any steps done by ECOWAS.
How the EU should react if ECOWAS requests financial support for a military operation to reinstate the expelled government of Niger, according to diplomats, was another topic of debate.
When asked whether or how the EU would back a military intervention, Borrell responded, “This will also be debated, but of course, we must know what it is, how, when, where, and in what fashion. We cannot issue blank checks.
