As trio insists on ECOWAS withdrawal Wednesday
Head of the European Union Delegation to Nigeria and Economic Community of West African States, Ambassador Gautier Mignot, has known as on ECOWAS to undertake a brand new method in its dealings with Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, collectively.
Speaking in Abuja throughout a media briefing yesterday, Mignot expressed the EU’s remorse over the withdrawal of the three nations from ECOWAS, emphasising that regional integration is significant for prosperity and stability.
“It is a decision that we regret because we strongly support West African integration. Splitting does not seem to us a good idea,” he mentioned.
Drawing parallels to the EU’s expertise with Brexit, the envoy, who additionally doubles as Head of Delegation to ECOWAS, highlighted the significance of negotiation and dialogue in managing such exits.
“Even if you leave a regional integration arrangement, geographically you remain neighbours. You have to find new ways of coexisting and cooperating,” he defined, providing the EU’s experience to help ECOWAS in managing the transition.
While urging ECOWAS to pursue dialogue, Mignot famous that the EU would proceed to have interaction with the AES nations by sustaining humanitarian support and adapting growth cooperation to concentrate on supporting native populations amid the Sahel’s rising safety and humanitarian crises.
Mignot, who not too long ago assumed his function as EU Ambassador to Nigeria, shared his imaginative and prescient for enhancing EU-Nigeria relations through the media parley.
Describing Nigeria as a “key player in Africa and the world,” he emphasised the EU’s dedication to being a dependable accomplice for the nation.
His priorities embrace fostering structured financial relations, selling commerce and funding, and specializing in sectors just like the inexperienced economic system, digital know-how, agri-food and healthcare.
MEANWHILE, the withdrawal of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso from ECOWAS is billed to take impact on Wednesday after a 12 months of political tensions, fracturing the area and leaving the bloc with an unsure future.
On January 29, 2024, the three nations led by army regimes formally notified ECOWAS of their want for “immediate” withdrawal. But the texts of the West African organisation required one-year discover for it to be efficient.
This will occur on Wednesday, all three nations having ignored ECOWAS’s name to increase the interval by six months to attempt to discover a answer.
Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger at the moment are united in a confederation known as the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
Their army rulers accuse ECOWAS of getting imposed “inhuman, illegal and illegitimate” sanctions towards them after the coups that introduced them to energy.