Emmanuel Macron announces the imminent return to France of the ambassador and the withdrawal of French soldiers by the end of the year

French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Sunday September 24 the return “in the next few hours” of the French ambassador in Niamey (Niger), and the departure of French troops by the end of the year, at the end of a two-month standoff with the Nigerien junta.

“France has decided to bring back its ambassador”which Paris has so far refused to recall, declared the French president during an interview on “20 Heures” on TF1 and France 2, Sunday evening. “We are ending our military cooperation with Niger”continued Emmanuel Macron, specifying that the 1,500 French soldiers in Niger would leave “in the coming weeks and months”, and that the withdrawal would be completely completed “by the end of the year”.

Since the coup d’état of July 26, France has repeated that it does not recognize the legitimacy of the soldiers who took power in Niger, and that its interlocutor remains the elected president Mohamed Bazoum, held prisoner since the putsch.