Foreign Ministers From Burkian Faso, Guinea, And Mali Calls For Reentry To Regional Blocs

Foreign Ministers from three West African countries on Thursday called for their reinstatement into two key regional blocs following a trip by Russian envoy Sergei Lavrov to the region, reported The Africa News.

The foreign ministers of Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Mali, all ruled by military juntas, met in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou earlier this week after Lavrov traveled to Mali earlier in the week.

In a joint statement released after the meeting, Abdoulaye Diop of Mali, Morissanda Kouyate of Guinea, and Burkina’s Olivia Rouamba agreed to work together to push for the lifting of their suspensions from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU).

According to the statement, the three countries had agreed to pool their efforts and undertake joint initiatives for the lifting of the suspension measures and other restrictions by ECOWAS and the African Union (AU).

The three foreign ministers also stressed on the need to set up and institutionalize a permanent coordination framework between the three countries due to mounting insecurity in the Sahel region.

Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Mali have all witnessed a string of coups since 2020 amid anger over the toll from a jihadist insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives and forced millions from their homes.

There have been two coups in Mali since 2020, one in Guinea in 2021, and two in Burkina Faso last year.  All three countries are ruled by military juntas that have not yet fulfilled the demands to restore civilian rule and leading to suspensions from regional groups. They are under pressure by West Africa’s regional bloc ECOWAS to return swiftly to civilian rule.

“This is the first time that I have been in Burkina Faso since the struggle of the Burkinabe people, which led to a correction enabling the recovery of sovereignty and territorial integrity in this brother country,” Mali’s Foreign Minister Diop said.