ECOWAS Refutes Claims Over Influence by Outside Forces

The junta-led governments of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso have accused the West African regional organization Ecowas of being influenced by outside forces, but Timothy Musa Kabba, the foreign minister of Sierra Leone refutes these claims.

In a unified statement, the three nations declared their departure from the EU on Sunday, claiming that the organization “has become a threat to member states and peoples” and is “under the influence of foreign powers, betraying its founding principles”.

The accusations are “unfortunate,” according to Mr. Kabba, a member of the team mediating between Ecowas and the regimes led by the junta.

Ecowas’s intervention was meant to “find a solution to the impasse” and guarantee stability, security, and peace in the area. “And we are not in any way under the influence of any external power to mediate between Ecowas and Nigerien authorities,” he added.

Following coups in Niger in 2023, Burkina Faso in 2022, and Mali in 2020, the group suspended the three nations’ membership and imposed economic penalties. As a result, relations between the EU and these countries have been hostile. (BBC)

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