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Newsline: Burkina Faso expels French ambassador
Burkina Faso has expelled France’s ambassador, authorities said Monday. Government spokesman Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo confirmed to the Associated Press that Ambassador Luc Hallade was asked to leave, but provided no further details. The French embassy refused to comment. (https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Burkina-Faso-s-military-regime-expels-French-17690183.php) Hallade’s expulsion comes less than two weeks after the United Nations’ resident and humanitarian coordinator in Burkina Faso, Barbara Manzi, was also declared persona non grata.
Newsline: Burkina Faso summons Ghanaian ambassador over Wagner allegations
Burkina Faso summoned the Ghanaian ambassador on Friday for “explanations” after Ghana’s president alleged that Burkina Faso had hired the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Burkina Faso’s foreign ministry said. Speaking to reporters alongside U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday, Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo alleged that Burkina Faso had hired the mercenaries. “Today, Russian mercenaries are on our northern border. Burkina Faso has now entered into an arrangement to go along with Mali in employing the Wagner forces there,” Akufo-Addo said, adding that it was a distressing development for Ghana. Akufo-Addo also alleged that Burkina Faso had offered Wagner a mine as payment. In a statement issued after the meeting with the ambassador, Burkina Faso’s foreign ministry said it had “expressed disapproval” about the statements made by the Ghanaian president. “Ghana could have undertaken exchanges with the Burkinabe authorities on the security issue in order to have the right information,” it said. However, it did not confirm or deny the allegations. In a separate message to Reuters, the foreign ministry spokesperson said, without elaborating: “In any case, Burkina has not called on Wagner”. (https://neuters.de/world/africa/burkina-faso-summons-ghanaian-ambassador-over-wagner-allegations-2022-12-16/) Burkina Faso also recalled its ambassador from Ghana, the spokesperson said.
Newsline: French Embassy Asks Burkina Faso for Increased Protection
The French embassy in Burkina Faso has asked the West African state for more protection after violent protests targeted the property last week, a letter to the government and a diplomatic source said. In a letter to Burkina Faso’s foreign ministry seen by Reuters, the French embassy said Burkina Faso’s military police did nothing on Nov. 18 as hundreds of protesters violently attacked the embassy, throwing stones and other projectiles at its walls. (https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-11-21/french-embassy-asks-burkina-faso-for-more-protection-after-protests) Some of the officers charged with protecting the embassy were captured on video playing cards as the protest unfolded, the letter said. Anti-French sentiment and protests have surged this year in Burkina Faso, a former French colony where France maintains strong ties and has special forces stationed in the country.
Newsline: Burkina Faso protesters tried to storm French embassy
Police in Burkina Faso fired tear gas on Friday to disperse angry protesters who attempted to storm the French embassy in the capital Ouagadougou, local media reported. The protesters, who were demanding the expulsion of the French ambassador, rallied at the municipal stadium in the morning before heading to the French embassy, where they were dispersed by police tear gas, according to the local daily Le Faso. “Police fired tear gas after negotiations with the protesters asking them to leave the scene peacefully failed. But the protesters responded by stoning the embassy,” it said. (https://www.yenisafak.com/en/world/angry-protesters-try-to-storm-french-embassy-in-burkina-faso-report-3655785) Video footage showed the protesters, some riding on motorcycles, blowing whistles and vuvuzelas shouting slogans such as “down with France.” The protesters, mainly youth, accuse France of being responsible for Burkina Faso’s problems, including insecurity.
Newsline: U.S. diplomats told Burkina Faso not planning to hire Russian fighters like Mali
Burkina Faso’s interim President Ibrahim Traore has assured U.S. diplomats that he has no intention of inviting Russian Wagner forces to fight militants in the country, U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said on Wednesday. “We had a chance to sit with interim President Traore and his leadership team, including his defence minister. He was unequivocal in saying that only Burkinabe will defend their country. They have no intention of inviting Wagner,” she said at a digital media briefing. (https://news.yahoo.com/burkina-faso-not-planning-hire-164211714.html) There has been concern that Burkina Faso might follow the lead of neighbouring Mali, which late last year hired mercenary fighters from Russia’s Wagner group to help its army fight Islamist insurgents. Security has deteriorated since Wagner entered Mali, rights abuses have been reported and United Nations peacekeepers have been squeezed out, said Nuland, who has just returned to the United States from a West Africa tour.
Newsline: The Netherlands to get three new embassies
The Netherlands is to establish three new embassies, in Armenia, Niger and Burkina Faso, foreign minister Stef Blok has told MPs. The current diplomatic missions in Niamey and Ouagadougou will be expanded and given full embassy status as part of cabinet efforts to focus more attention on the Sahel region, Blok said. (https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2019/12/diplomatic-expansion-the-netherlands-to-get-three-new-embassies/) Both offices are currently satellites of the Dutch embassy in Mali. The new embassy in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, means there will also be Dutch representation throughout the region, the minister said. In addition, the current Dutch diplomatic missions in Abuja (Nigeria), Amman, Bagdad, Beijing, Bogota, Brussels, Caracas, Geneva, New York, Rabat, Tirana and Vilnius will be strengthened, Blok said. The government’s coalition accord included a commitment to spend €40m to strengthen the Dutch diplomatic presence abroad and reopen embassies and consulates. Some €10m has already been spent on adding 29 posts to the Dutch diplomatic mission south and east of the EU, because of the instability in these regions. In May 2017, the government advisory board for international affairs AIV said €70m to €80m a year needed to be spent to bring Dutch embassies up to scratch following years of cutbacks.
Newsline: China opens embassy after Burkina switches from Taiwan
China opened its new embassy in the Burkina Faso capital of Ouagadougou on Thursday after the Sahel state stunned Taiwan by switching diplomatic ties to Beijing. The official opening comprised the unveiling of a plaque in an upmarket hotel where the embassy is being housed temporarily while a new building for it is constructed. “Today is a historic day,” declared Vice Prime Minister Hu Chunhua, who led a major delegation to Ouagadougou to oversee the event. “As of today, the embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Burkina Faso is open,” Mr Hu said, describing the mission as the “driver of Chinese-Burkinabe friendship”.
Newsline: French embassy attacked in Burkina Faso’s capital
Four attackers at the French Embassy in Burkina Faso have been “neutralized,” the government of Burkina Faso said Friday. Both the French Embassy and the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the headquarters of Burkina Faso’s armed forces, have come under attack, a government statement said, and there are security forces on the scene. It urged people to keep calm and avoid areas where there might be gunfire.
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/03/02/africa/burkina-faso-ouagadougou-attack-intl/index.html
Newsline: Burkina Faso recalls ambassador to Libya over ‘slave markets’ report
Burkina Faso’s foreign minister said it had recalled its ambassador to Libya over a report that black African migrants were being auctioned as slaves there. The decision by the West African nation followed the broadcast by CNN of footage of what it said was an auction of men offered to Libyan buyers as farmhands and sold for $400, a chilling echo of the trans-Saharan slave trade of centuries past. Libya’s ambassador to Burkina Faso said his country was being unfairly blamed for a global problem that all nations affected must come together to solve.
Newsline: Ghana’s Embassy in Burkina Faso spends more than $600,000 on fence wall
Ghana’s Embassy in Burkina Faso will soon be investigated for allegedly spending $656,248.48 on the construction of a fence wall. Bank of Ghana Deputy Governor, Millison Narh described the amount as outrageous and requires thorough probing. The revelation was contained in BoG’s 2013 foreign exchange receipt payment presented to the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament. Mr Narh could not justify the expenditure on the fence wall but indicated the matter would be investigated and answers provided the Committee.
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=326506
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