PARIS: France’s ambassador to Niger will stay in the country despite pressure to leave from leaders of a recent coup, President Emmanuel Macron said in a speech to diplomats on Monday.
Macron also reiterated France’s support to Niger’s ousted president Mohamed Bazoum, whose decision not to resign Macron called courageous.
“I think our policy is the right one. It’s based on the courage of President Bazoum, and on the commitments of our ambassador on the ground who is remaining despite all the pressure, despite all the declarations made by the illegitimate authorities,” said Macron.
On Friday, Niger’s junta, which seized power in a coup on July 26, said it had ordered French ambassador Sylvain Itte to leave the country within 48 hours.
Macron also dismissed calls from some in the United States and Europe for Western powers to give up on Bazoum.
“We do not recognize those who have carried out the putsch, we support a president who has not stepped down, and besides whom we remain engaged,” said Macron.
The main West African bloc ECOWAS has been trying to negotiate with the leaders of the Niger coup, and has said it is ready to deploy troops to restore constitutional order if diplomatic efforts fail.
France’s Emmanuel Macron: Envoy will stay in Niger, despite pressure from junta to leave
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France’s Emmanuel Macron: Envoy will stay in Niger, despite pressure from junta to leave
- Emmanuel Macron also reiterates France’s support to Niger’s ousted president Mohamed Bazoum
German spy chief warns of Russia threat to 2026 regional polls
- Sinan Selen said hat Germany was especially in Moscow’s sights because it is a central logistics hub of the NATO alliance on the continent
BERLIN: Germany’s domestic spy chief warned Monday that Russia could step up sabotage, cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns next year when the EU’s top economy, a strong backer of Ukraine, holds several regional elections.
Sinan Selen, head of the BfV intelligence service, said in a Berlin speech that Germany was especially in Moscow’s sights because it is a central logistics hub of the NATO alliance on the continent.
Speaking later to AFP, Selen said about Russian disinformation campaigns that “we’ve repeatedly seen that elections play a very significant role here, and as you know we have several state elections in Germany next year.”
Russia is blamed by Western security services for a spate of drone flights, acts of sabotage, cyberattacks and online disinformation campaigns in Europe, which have escalated since its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“We are being attacked here and now in Europe,” Selen said in a speech marking 75 years since the founding of the BfV, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
“In its role as a logistics hub for collective defense and support of Ukraine, Germany is more heavily targeted by Russian intelligence services than other countries,” he said.
“Above all Russia, as a hybrid actor, is undoubtedly aggressive, offensive and escalating. Its intelligence services employ a wide range of attack vectors from its toolbox.
“A clear sign of a highly dangerous escalation is the preparation and execution of sabotage attacks in Germany and other European countries, for which the Kremlin is considered the primary instigator. There is no sign of any relief in sight.”
Germany next year holds five regional elections, including in the ex-communist east, where the far-right and Moscow-friendly Alternative for Germany (AfD) party hopes to make further strong gains.
Selen, speaking about hybrid threats, said that “every sector of society can be affected, and this will be especially true in the coming year.”
The course of the Ukraine war would also strongly influence the actions of Russia, which Selen said “can scale the intensity of its sabotage operations at will.”
Selen added that “this war of aggression is more than a struggle for Ukrainian territory, it is a litmus test in the ongoing systemic conflict between authoritarianism and democracy in a multipolar and complex world.”
