The moment had an air of déjà vu. A concerto of car horns, placards reading "Down with France" here, and Russian flags there. On Friday, August 11, thousands of Nigeriens gathered at the Escadrille roundabout, not far from the French military base on the eastern outskirts of Niamey, Niger's capital. Since the self-proclaimed head of state General Abdourahamane Tiani's July 26 coup d'état against President Mohamed Bazoum, the 1,500 or so French soldiers deployed in Niger, mainly at the Niamey air base, have been waiting for their fate to be decided.
A clear message is being sent by the junta united within the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland (CNSP): French soldiers, present since 2013 alongside the Nigerien army in the fight against jihadist movements – including the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) and the Islamic State in the Sahel – must pack up. Speaking on national television on August 3, Colonel Major Amadou Abdramane, CNSP spokesperson and now minister of youth and sports, officially canceled the five military cooperation agreements signed with France between 1977 and 2020. The termination was justified by "France's casual attitude and reaction to the internal situation prevailing in the country."
These texts provided a legal framework for the presence and action of French forces in the Sahel, stationed in Niger, as French deployment in the area has been described since the end of Operation Barkhane in August 2022. "Only the legitimate authorities of Niger can [cancel the agreements]," retorted the FrenchMinistry of Foreign Affairs at a press briefing in Paris on August 4.
"For the time being, Paris' position remains defensible," said Julien Antouly, a researcher in armed conflict law. "A large majority of the international community still recognizes President Mohamed Bazoum. But if the junta really does come to power, the French will have to recognize the fait accompli. In that case, the presence of French forces in the Sahel based in Niger will be illegal once the notice period set out in the agreements expires."
In Mali in May 2021 and in Burkina Faso in September 2022, the ruling juntas also exploited public hostility to the French military presence and canceled cooperation agreements signed with Paris, partly with the aim of bringing a youth susceptible to pan-Africanist and sovereignist ideas to rally around their authority. This was followed by the departure of the last French soldier from Mali in mid-August 2022 and of parts of the Sabre task force – the name of the French special forces based in the Sahel – from Burkina Faso in February 2023. Some of the personnel dismissed by the Malian and Burkina Faso military authorities were redeployed to Niger.
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