OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso: Burkina Faso has taken decisive action by expelling three French diplomats accused of engaging in “subversive activities,” according to a foreign ministry note obtained by news agency on Thursday.
The foreign ministry’s note, dated Tuesday and addressed to the French embassy, declared the diplomats “persona non grata” and instructed them to depart the country within 48 hours.
Since seizing power in a September 2022 coup, the junta in Burkina Faso has pursued a course of distancing the nation from France, its former colonial ruler (until 1960). This shift included canceling a longstanding 1961 military agreement between the two countries and the withdrawal of the French ambassador following the coup.
In December 2022, four French individuals were arrested, charged, and imprisoned in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital, as reported by a French source. While Burkinabe authorities labeled them as intelligence agents, the French source identified them as IT support staff. Presently, these individuals are reportedly under house arrest based on Burkina security sources.
This expulsion follows a pattern of strained Franco-Burkinabe relations, with previous incidents including the expulsion of two French nationals accused of espionage while working for a Burkina Faso company in December 2022.
As France concludes its anti-jihadist military operations in Mali and Burkina Faso, and begins withdrawing troops from Niger—countries now under junta rule after recent coups—Burkina Faso has turned to other partners, such as Russia, Mali, and Niger, for security cooperation.
