Niamey/Berlin (dpa) – Following the coup in the Niger on Thursday, Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has talked to her counterpart Hassoumi Massoudou on the phone and clearly expressed Germany’s “full support” for a democratic future in the West African country. According to a statement from the Federal Foreign Office, Baerbock said that this included the immediate release of President Mohamed Bazoum.
Officers of the presidential guard had detained President Mohamed Bazoum in his palace on Wednesday and declared that he had been stripped of his powers. On Thursday, Niger’s armed forces sided with the rebel military. The leaders of the coup warned foreign states against intervening militarily.
Baerbock stressed that Bazoum’s government had endeavoured despite challenging circumstances “to position itself as a reliable partner, fight poverty, bring lasting improvements to the lives of its people and thus dry up support for terrorism”.
“The fact that soldiers have now staged a coup in order to take power in the Niger is a bitter blow for the many people there who have done so much in recent years to ensure a better future for their country,” the foreign minister went on to say. Germany has roughly 100 Bundeswehr soldiers stationed in the capital Niamey.
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