BRUSSELS, 28 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The European Union has maintained contact with the new military leader and transitional president of Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traoré, after the coup d’état on 30 September last and has received his commitment to the democratic road map in the country and the holding of elections in 2024, an EU spokesman has informed Europa Press.
“The EU has had contact with Captain Traoré, both bilaterally and in the international diplomatic corps, who confirmed during these meetings his willingness to cooperate with all of Burkina Faso’s partners,” the spokesperson explained.
The person responsible for the military coup perpetrated last September in Burkina Faso appointed a new Executive this Tuesday, after the lawyer Appolinaire Joachim Kyelem de Tambela was appointed this past weekend as transitional Prime Minister.
The country has been the scene of two coups in less than a year, beginning with the one carried out in January by Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, deposed in turn by Captain Traoré and heavily criticized by De Tambela in his television interventions.
In Brussels they take note of the commitments made by the new military junta, among which are respect for the transition calendar and the holding of elections in 2024, as agreed with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in a visit the week following the military coup.
With regard to the European funds that the African country receives, the EU defends supporting the Burkina Faso population affected by the two successive coups and the current food crisis, so as far as possible it will continue with actions of direct support to the population.
In total, the EU has planned €384 million for Burkina Faso until 2024 to promote peace, social cohesion, good governance, local development, inclusive human development and the promotion of a green and resilient economy. Part of this endowment was already committed at the end of 2021 for a total amount of 200 million euros and since the coup in January no new commitments have been processed.
Regarding cooperation with the new authorities, the spokesman insisted that the bloc “closely follows the evolution of the transition towards the reestablishment of democratic institutions.” “The following weeks and months will be crucial”, he has underlined.
In his investiture speech, Traoré promised to defend the Constitution and the transition charter, as well as to act as guarantor of national security and put an end to tumultuous months in Burkina Faso. The coup, considered a ‘palace coup’ by a sector of the military junta opposed to Damiba – who has fled to Togo -, took place in the face of the continued deterioration of the security situation and attacks by jihadist groups .
