April 18 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The military junta of Burkina Faso has ordered this Thursday the expulsion of three French diplomats who have been declared 'persona non grata' after being accused of “subversive activities” in the African country, amid the rise in bilateral tensions between Ouagadougou and Paris .
According to information provided by the Burkinabé state news agency, AIB, the people affected by this order are Gwenaïelle Habouzit and the “political advisors” Guillaume Reisacher and Hervé Fournier, all of them workers at the French Embassy in Burkina Faso, without the authorities of France have spoken out on the matter.
Diplomatic relations between both countries have deteriorated drastically after the coming to power of Ibrahim Traoré, current transitional president and leader of the junta, following the coup d'état in September 2022, which overthrew the then president-elect, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré .
The junta has denounced the 1961 military agreement with France and achieved the withdrawal of French forces from the country, while the French ambassador, Luc Hallade, called for consultations after the riot following Ouagadougou's request for his departure from the country, has not returned to his post since then, reflecting the tensions between Paris and its former colony.
The military authorities of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, established after a series of coups d'état between 2020 and 2023, have distanced themselves from France and other Western partners and moved closer to the Russian authorities, which has increased their influence in the Sahel, including the dispatch of Wagner Group mercenaries and “military advisors.”
