Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu and Niger’s Minister of Foreign Affairs in exile Hassoumi Massaoudou to attend EU meeting in Spain

The European Union aims to follow in the footsteps of the West African regional body Ecowas and slap the same sanctions on the junta that seized power in Niger several weeks ago, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Wednesday.

“We will follow, trying to implement the same kinds of sanctions that they have decided,” he said after a meeting of EU defence ministers in Toledo, Spain.

“We are moving forward for an autonomous sanctions regime to take measures against the putchists,” Mr Borrell said during a joint press conference with Spain’s Minister of Defence Margarita Robles.

“Work has already started and tomorrow, foreign affairs ministers will advance on that,” he added, in reference to an informal meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers on Thursday.

The meeting, also to be held in Toledo, will be attended by the President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, who is also Ecowas president, as well as Niger’s foreign affairs minister in exile Hassoumi Massaoudou, Mr Borrell said. “We will have a conversation in person,” Mr Borrell said.

Ecowas sanctions, issued on July 30, include the freezing of Nigerien assets and a ban on commercial flights.

Nigeria, which has the fourth largest army in Africa, has led the Ecowas response to the coup. The alliance has 11 active members.

The EU, one of the biggest providers of aid to Niger, last month suspended security co-operation and financial support that had been set at €503 million ($552 million) in 2021-2024 to help improve governance and education.

Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum, who was democratically elected in 2021, is still under house arrest with his family in Niamey.

The EU’s European External Action Service, headed by Mr Borrell, recently recommended establishing an autonomous EU sanctions regime against Niger, according to an internal document seen by Politico.