The federal government in Rome has no proof of Moscow’s involvement within the navy coup in Niamey, International Minister Antonio Tajani instructed the each day La Repubblica on Thursday. The turmoil in Niger took each the US and France without warning, he additionally revealed.
“Now we have no info of Russia’s involvement within the Nigerien occasions, or the preparation of the coup,” Tajani instructed the outlet when requested whether or not Moscow was enjoying some form of recreation within the Sahel nation. He dismissed the Nigerien protesters carrying images of Russian President Vladimir Putin as “extra anti-French than the rest.”
“Many, maybe all in Europe, have been taken without warning” by the coup, Tajani stated. “No one knew about it, neither the US nor France.” Each international locations have over 1,000 troops in Niger and drone bases for counter-terrorism operations. There are 350 Italian troopers at the moment in Niger, and they’re preserving to their barracks for now, the international minister stated.
The Nigerien authorities had been additionally blindsided, Tajani added, noting that the Nigerien PM Uhumudu Mahamadou was in Rome for a UN meals summit.
When pressed in regards to the Russian function within the area, he stated that the alleged presence of Wagner Group members was “one other matter” and that Russia has “infiltrated that area skilfully for years.”
Italy favors “any diplomatic try to search out an settlement,” Tajani instructed La Repubblica. “Democracy should be restored. However we wish peaceable options to be discovered. Now we have additionally at all times been in opposition to the proposal of any European navy intervention.” He added that his French counterpart Catherine Colonna “by no means” broached the topic of intervention with him.
Moscow has condemned final Wednesday’s coup as a violation of the Nigerien structure and referred to as on all sides to chorus from violence. ECOWAS, a Western-backed bloc of West African international locations, has imposed sanctions on the junta in Niamey and threatened a navy intervention to revive President Mohamed Bazoum to energy. Mali and Burkina Faso have stated this is able to quantity to a declaration of battle in opposition to them as nicely.
In the meantime, Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin has described the occasions in Niger as a justified riot of the individuals in opposition to Western exploitation, citing the instance of uranium shipped to France. He argued the Nigeriens have been “stored in concern for many years” by the gangs of terrorists backed by the West, and that their presence was then cited to justify the deployment of troops to the West African nation.
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