AA/Bamako/Amarana Maiga
The foreign affairs ministers of the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) bringing together Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso reaffirmed, Friday, in Niamey, Niger, the irreversible decision of the States of the Confederation to withdraw from Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), we read in a press release consulted by Anadolu.
The foreign affairs ministers of the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) met this Friday in Niamey to debate the free movement of people and goods in the alliance area under the presidency of Abdoulaye Diop, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Mali.
The ministers first underlined that this meeting “reflects the foresight of the three heads of state in their firm desire to strengthen, in a pan-African spirit, the mechanisms aimed at facilitating the free movement of people and goods in space. West African”, before reaffirming “the highly strategic scope of this commitment, the implementation of which will have a positive impact on the lives of the populations of the Confederation”.
The ministers took the opportunity to recall that the decision of the States of the Confederation to withdraw from ECOWAS was irreversible.
This declaration comes a few days after the wish of the President of Senegal to keep these countries within ECOWAS to avoid, he says, a disintegration of the community organization.
Appointed mediator in July 2024 by ECOWAS leaders to defuse the crisis between the community organization and the AES member countries, President Faye, who spoke on the sidelines of the 22nd edition of the Doha forum, said called on stakeholders to do more to meet the challenge.
“Nothing prevents today from maintaining the alliance of Sahel States since it is already there and it responds to a security reality that these countries are particularly facing,” indicated President Faye in a video published Sunday evening by the services of the Presidency of the Republic.
“But at the same time, this should not, from my point of view, explain a disintegration of ECOWAS, for the role that this institution has played in bringing people together, in facilitating the movement of people and goods” , he continued, assuring that this is the meaning of his mediation mission.
For its part, the office of the ECOWAS Parliament strongly hoped, Thursday, that “the Confederation of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS adopts an extraordinary measure which will extend the deadline for withdrawal of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso of the organization scheduled for January 29, 2025, in order to leave room for new reflections and negotiations that will avoid the disintegration of the community.”
It was in January 2024 that Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger announced their withdrawal “without delay” from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The three countries accuse ECOWAS of no longer responding to the aspirations of their people.
For Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, “ECOWAS, under the influence of foreign powers” has become “a threat to its member states and its populations whose happiness it is supposed to ensure”.
Blaming it for not having provided them with any assistance in their fight against terrorism, the three countries deplore that, even when they decided “to take their destiny into their own hands”, the same ECOWAS imposed on them “illegal, illegitimate measures, inhumane and irresponsible, in violation of its own texts.
Only part of the dispatches, which the Anadolu Agency broadcasts to its subscribers via the Internal Broadcasting System (HAS), is broadcast on the AA website, in summary form. Please contact us to subscribe.
Related News :