EU’s anti-migration plans could ‘collapse’ without Niger, expert says

Cape Town, Jul. 30, (dpa/GNA) – Last week’s military coup in the West African country of Niger could have far-reaching consequences for Europe’s efforts to curb migration via the Mediterranean Sea, according to analysts specializing in the Sahel region.

“Without Niger [Europe’s] strategy will … collapse,” the head of the Sahel programme of Germany’s Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) Ulf Laessing told dpa on Sunday.

KAS is a political party think tank close to, but independent of, the conservative opposition Christian Democrats (CDU).

Previous agreements would become largely ineffective if the new military leadership in Niger did not continue cooperation with Europe, Laessing said.

On Friday, the head of the presidential guard in Niger, General Omar Tchiani, appointed himself president of the National Council and thus the country’s new ruler.

That came after presidential guard officers detained Bazoum in the palace on Wednesday. Later, 10 military officers announced on television that the so-called National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) had taken power.

Shortly after Tchiani took over as de facto president, the putschists suspended the constitution of the West African country and dissolved all constitutional institutions. Tchiani was later said to have begun forming a new government.

The Sahel region in which Niger is located is also witnessing unrest in other countries like Mali and Sudan, and Niger is a key transit country for people in sub-Saharan Africa fleeing violence and poverty and trying to make it to Europe.

GNA