Niger: EU condemns arrest of ministers by putschists

The European Union on Monday condemned the arrest by Niger's new junta of ministers from the ousted government and demanded their immediate release.

"The EU denounces the continued arrests of ministers and senior officials of President Mohamed Bazoum's government by the putschists in Niger," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Twitter, renamed X. "We call for their immediate release ,” he added.

Ousted President Mohamed Bazoum 's party has warned that the West African country is at risk of becoming a "dictatorial and totalitarian regime" after a series of arrests. The Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS, in power), denounced the "abusive arrests" of four ministers - Interior, Petroleum, Mines and Transport - as well as the head of its national executive committee.

The European Union has condemned the coup in Niger, a country it considers an essential bulwark of stability in the volatile Sahel region. It suspended its budgetary aid to Niamey and warned that it could impose new sanctions following this putsch.

Mr Bazoum, a Western ally whose election just over two years ago marked Niger's first peaceful transition of power since independence, was ousted on July 26 by the elite presidential guard.

Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world, despite its uranium resources . Plagued by attacks from groups linked to the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda , it is the third country in the region to suffer a coup since 2020 after Mali and Burkina Faso .