Niger [Africa], July 8: Specifically, the trio held their first summit since the military took power in a coup. They flatly declared that they would not rejoin ECOWAS and even considered ECOWAS a security threat. Last year, the trio established the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) and at this first summit, they even developed the AES into a NATO-style military alliance. That is, if one member is attacked from the outside, it means that the other members are also attacked. In addition, these three countries also announced their withdrawal from the G5 Joint Force for the Sahel region, established by the US, France and several other Western countries to deal with extremist Islamic terrorist forces and organizations in this region.
The trio has been heavily critical of France and the West, but all three have also acted decisively to promote political and economic cooperation, trade, security, military and defence with Russia, China and Iran.
Starting from the same boat, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali realized that only by joining forces can they optimize their position and power, avoid military intervention by ECOWAS, cope with Western pressure and increase their value in the policies of Russia, China and Iran. This coordination weakens ECOWAS and fundamentally changes the geopolitical and security game throughout the Sahel region and Africa.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
