The Togolese Foreign Minister says that this option “is not impossible” and emphasizes that it depends on the president, Faure Gnassingbé
Jan. 17 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Togo’s Foreign Minister, Robert Dussey, has opened the door for the country to join the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), made up of the military junta of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, a decision that has left it up to of the Togolese president, Faure Gnassingbé.
“For me it is not impossible. It is the decision of the President of the Republic,” he said in an interview with the Voxafrica network, broadcast on his YouTube channel. “Ask the Togolese people if they want to join the AES. I think they would say yes,” he added.
“African people want to be themselves,” said Dussey, who also highlighted that the head of the Malian military junta, Assimi Goita, in power after two coups d’état in 2020 and 2021, “is an opportunity for Mali “, despite Western criticism against Bamako.
Likewise, he criticized that “the role assigned to Africa today is regrettable.” “Africa is used only to serve the great powers. It is not normal. It is inadmissible,” he maintained, within the framework of growing criticism of France and other traditional partners in the West.
The AES was created last year after the boards of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger left the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) over the bloc’s sanctions and criticism of military coups that had overthrown their respective presidents.
These countries have since distanced themselves from France, a former colonial power, and have strengthened diplomatic and security ties with Russia with the stated goal of confronting the growing threat from jihadist groups, including branches of Al Qaeda and Islamic State in the Sahel.
In recent years, Gnassingbé, in power since the death of his father, Gnassingbé Eyadéma, in 2005, has mediated crises in West Africa. However, the country faces the growing threat of jihadist expansion into the Sahel region.
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