EU concerned about ‘domino effects’ of military coups in Africa

European Union ministers have expressed deep concern about “domino effects” following last Wednesday’s coup in oil-rich Gabon — the eighth nation in the Central or West African region to be hit by a military takeover in the last three years.

The EU is increasingly concerned about the growing number of military coups across the continent as the bloc draws up sanctions targeting the junta in Niger which overthrew an elected government only a month ago. The EU has not been training Gabon’s armed forces — although French troops have — but it has funded and taught troops in Mali and Niger. The military training provided by the bloc has focused mainly on the volatile Sahel region to combat extremism, particularly groups linked to al-Qaida. Brussels is increasingly concerned that instability in Africa will drive more people to flee, and the 27-nation bloc is already divided over how to cope with large numbers of migrant arrivals.

Some European countries, most notably France, have strong economic interests in Africa and the growing influence of Russia through the Wagner mercenary group, and the economic might of China are also forcing the bloc to rethink its policies. “It’s clear that things haven’t gone well given the proliferation of military coups and the presence of Wagner gangs in the Central African Republic, Mali, Burkina Faso,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said. Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said that “we do need to evaluate our approach to Africa in the light of what has transpired,” especially referring to the fact that training and supporting armies in Africa might later turn on their governments, as this “does present a very significant dilemma.”
Many EU foreign ministers would like to see Africa to drive the response to its own challenges. In Niger, they said, it is important to back the West African bloc ECOWAS. A senior ECOWAS official and Niger’s foreign minister in exile took part in their meeting. Borrell said the ministers would listen carefully to ECOWAS “because I believe that the first thing to do is to show that we want the solutions to these problems to come from African institutions. He also said the 27-nation bloc is drawing up a list of measures, including asset freezes and travel bans, for those involved in the coup, in line with sanctions under consideration by ECOWAS.