Military-run Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have finalized plans to form a confederation, distancing themselves from former colonial ruler France in favor of closer ties with Russia.
Their foreign ministers met on Friday in Niamey, the capital of Niger, to agree on the text establishing the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
Niger’s Foreign Minister, Bakary Yaou Sangare, stated on Friday evening that the meeting’s objective was to finalize the draft text for the institutionalization and operationalization of the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
“The objective was to finalise the draft text relating to the institutionalisation and operationalisation of the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES)”, said Sangare as he read the final statement late Friday.
He said the text would be adopted by the heads of state of the three countries at a summit, without specifying the date, Barron’s Reports.
Following a meeting with General Abdourahamane Tiani, the head of the Nigerien military regime, Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop declared that it is evident that the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) has been established today.
“We can consider very clearly, today, that the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) has been born,” Diop said after meeting General Tiani, the head of Nigerien military regime.
Burkina Faso’s Karamoko Jean-Marie Traore was the third foreign minister present at the meeting.
The Sahel region has been plagued by deadly jihadist violence for years, which they have attributed to France’s inability to control.
In late January, the three countries announced their withdrawal from The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), citing French influence, and opted to establish their own regional bloc.