The Organization Internationale de la Francophonie had already suspended the membership of the three countries over military coups in recent years. Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso are now all ruled by military juntas that have severed diplomatic ties with France and expelled French troops while building security partnerships with Russia
Mali has withdrawn from a global alliance of French-speaking countries days after two of its neighbours took the same step.
Mali’s foreign ministry addressed its French counterpart, saying: “The government has decided to withdraw Mali from the Organization Internationale de la Francophonie,” while accusing it of “selective application of sanctions” and “contempt for Mali’s sovereignty.”
The alliance’s spokeswoman, Oria Vande Weghe, said Burkina Faso and Niger had also decided to remove their countries from the organisation.
“At the last summit, 5 new members joined, so it’s all part of the game. Some join and some unfortunately leave. We hope that these are not final decisions,” said Oria Vande Weghe on TV5 Monde, a major French-speaking TV channel.
The organisation had already suspended the membership of the three countries over military coups in recent years. Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso are now all ruled by military juntas that have severed diplomatic ties with France and expelled French troops while building security partnerships with Russia instead.
The three will have six months to discuss the terms of their withdrawal from the alliance before it becomes final. The organisation was created in 1970 in the capital of Niger, Niamey, to promote the French language and foster political, educational, economic, and cultural cooperation among French-speaking countries. It now includes 93 countries and governments, 56 of which are full members.
The announcement comes as most West African nations are rethinking their relationship with France, which is losing its clout in the region. Following the military coups, Burkina Faso and Mali dropped French as the official language and banned many French-speaking media outlets.
Last year, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso announced their withdrawal from the regional organisation ECOWAS, which requires them to organise presidential elections and transfer power to civilians. Weakened by attacks from armed groups linked to al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, or separatists, they created the Alliance of Sahel States to pool their military and diplomatic forces.
Last year, Niger’s military junta has revoked the diplomatic immunity of France’s ambassador and ordered police to expel him from the West African country, according to a statement from the military regime.
The mutinous soldiers who ousted Niger’s president more than a month ago gave French Ambassador Sylvain Itte 48 hours to leave the country last week. The deadline expired on August 28 without France recalling Itte.
The French government says it doesn’t recognise the coup-plotters as the country’s legitimate leaders, and French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anne-Claire Legendre said Thursday that the ambassador remains in place despite the expulsion threats.
The communique sent by Niger’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Itte “no longer enjoys the privileges and immunities attached to his status as a member of the diplomatic staff of the embassy.”
After Itte first was told to leave Niger, French President Emmanuel Macron said the envoy would remain in his post. Macron spoke out firmly against the coup leaders while insisting that France, Niger’s former colonial rule, is not the country’s enemy.
Since toppling democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum, the junta has leveraged anti-French sentiment among the population to shore up its support. People chant “Down with France” at near daily rallies in the capital, Niamey, and at times in front of a French military base in the city.
France has some 1,500 military personnel in Niger who trained and conducted joint operations with Nigerien security forces to beat back a growing jihadi insurgency linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. The operations have ceased since the coup, and jihadi attacks are increasing.
Insurgents killed 17 soldiers and wounded nearly 24 this month, the first major attack in half a year against the army in Niger. Regional tensions are also rising as the junta ignores calls from other West African countries to release and reinstate Bazoum, even amid the threat of military force.
The regional bloc ECOWAS deployed a “standby” force and ordered it to transition Niger back to constitutional rule. The force has not yet entered Niger, and the bloc says the door remains open to dialogue but it won’t wait forever. The junta has appointed a new government and said it would return Niger to the system of government prescribed by the constitution within three years, a timeline that ECOWAS rejected.
The expulsion of the French ambassador and the revocation of his diplomatic immunity put France in a challenging position. France has said it would support ECOWAS in restoring an appropriate government in Niger but also needs to protect its diplomatic staff. “If Paris recognises the military authority in Niger, which is the heart of the matter, it could potentially limit the reputational damage that France is facing in its former African colonies,” Mucahid Durmaz, a senior analyst at global risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft, said.
