France has insisted on fulfilling five military cooperation agreements with Niger, because the accords were signed with the West African state’s ‘legitimate authorities,’ despite the former colony’s newly installed junta calling for the deals to be revoked.
“France recalls that the legal framework for its cooperation with Niger in the area of defense is based on agreements that have been concluded with the legitimate Niger authorities,” read a Friday statement from the French foreign ministry. “These are the only ones that France, and the entire international community, recognizes.”
The statement follows a Thursday declaration from Amadou Abdramane, spokesperson for the military coup leaders who ousted Niger’s democratically elected president Mohammad Bazoum last week, that the junta was unilaterally severing the military agreements with its former colonial rulers.
Abdourahamane Tchiani, formerly the chief of Niger’s presidential guard, declared himself head of the transitional government two days after his forces overthrew Bazoum’s administration.
The
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