The German government has decided to suspend financial aid to Niger due to the mutiny in the African country, Foreign Ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer said on Monday
BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st July, 2023) The German government has decided to suspend financial aid to Niger due to the mutiny in the African country, Foreign Ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer said on Monday.
"The Federal government has suspended all ancillary direct payments to the government of Niger. We are also reviewing our bilateral relations," Fischer told a briefing.
He noted that Germany is not currently in direct contact with the leaders of the mutiny, although the embassy maintains communication with the African country's acting ministries.
Fischer additionally said that the situation in Niger does not require the evacuation of German citizens there, whose number is estimated to be in the double digits. He also announced a meeting of the crisis center on the issue.
Katharina Koufen, the spokeswoman for the Economic Development Ministry, also confirmed the suspension of financial aid to Niger and stressed the need for a return to a democratic order.
"We join the calls of the African Union and ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) for the mutineers to return power to a democratically elected president," she said.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said the Nigerien mutineers posed no threat to German troops stationed in the country. He said the strategic decision-making department was considering various options to address the issue of the safety of Bundeswehr soldiers in Niger and their withdrawal from Mali.
Last week, German media reported that the withdrawal of the country's troops from Mali could be complicated by the fact that the airport in the Nigerien capital of Niamey, the Bundeswehr's main logistical hub, is unavailable due to the closure of Niger's airspace. Germany plans to withdraw its troops from Mali by May 2024.
Last Wednesday, part of the Nigerien military said in a statement broadcast on national television that they had overthrown the president, closed borders and imposed a curfew in the country. It came hours after members of the presidential guard detained the president at his residence and sealed off access to his offices in Niamey. The president's office said Niger's army was not supporting the mutineers. On Thursday, however, the command of the country's armed forces declared its solidarity with the coup.
On Sunday, Omar Alieu Touray, the head of the ECOWAS Commission, said the bloc was giving Niger one week to return detained President Mohamed Bazoum to power or it could use "all measures," including military, to restore order in the country. Moreover, ECOWAS suspended all financial aid to Niger, froze the assets of the rebels, their families and supporters, as well as imposed a ban on their movement.
