Ouagadougou: Following the withdrawal of Burkina, Mali and Niger from ECOWAS, the Minister in charge of Foreign Affairs Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré affirmed in an interview published this Tuesday in the daily Sidwaya that ‘Burkina Faso continues to have historic relations with all its neighboring countries within the bilateral framework’.
In an interview broadcast Monday on RTB and published this Tuesday morning in the daily Sidwaya, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation and Burkinabè Abroad Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré recalls that relations between Burkina Faso and ECOWAS concerned the multilateral aspect.
Beyond this multilateral aspect, ‘Burkina Faso continues to have historic relations with all its neighboring countries in the bilateral framework. These relations remain and these relations will continue and possibly strengthen,’ reassured the head of Burkinabe diplomacy.
Mr. Traoré spoke in Ouagadougou the day after the withdrawal of Burkina, Mali and Niger from ECOWAS on Sunday through a
joint press release signed by the presidents of Burkina (Captain Ibrahim Traoré), Mali (Colonel Assimi Goita) and Niger (General Abdourahamane Tiani ).
According to Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré, ‘the message (of the withdrawal) which was broadcast was sufficiently complete and reproduced all the reasons and all the justifications which militated in favor of this withdrawal’. ‘Naturally, it is a decision which is part of a chain of consequences and we are fully aware of this,’ he noted.
Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) on September 16, 2023, consecrated by the signing of the Liptako-Gourma charter by the three presidents.
For Minister Traoré, the three countries are ‘in a dynamic of endogenous structuring in a much more relevant space which is that of Liptako-Gourma’.
This ‘allows us to think about issues in much more coherent terms and the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) remains open to any country to be a member in any case,’ he said.
In his opinion, ‘the AES could als
o forge relations with the ECOWAS region’. Also, he continued, ‘the decision which was taken is a decision which is part of a spirit of better articulation and which allows us to truly work on the challenges which are ours’.
On Sunday, after the joint announcement of the withdrawal, the ECOWAS commission reacted, saying that the three countries ‘remain its important members and that it is still determined to find a negotiated solution to the political impasse in these countries’.
But on Monday, Burkina Faso sent a formal notification to ECOWAS confirming its joint decision taken the day before Sunday with Mali and Niger to leave the sub-regional institution, without delay.
As a reminder, ECOWAS was created on May 28, 1975, in Lagos, Nigeria, by 15 heads of state, including General Aboubacar Sangoulé Lamizana (Upper Volta, present-day Burkina Faso), General Moussa Traoré (Mali) and Lieutenant-Colonel Seyni Kountché (Niger).
Source: Burkina Information Agency