Burkina Faso gives three French diplomats 48 hours to leave the country

Burkina Faso’s leader, Captain Ibrahim Traore, has expelled three French diplomats for alleged subversive activities, according to reports by Reuters on Thursday, stating the discord between the African state and its former colonial master, France.

The three diplomats, Gwenaelle Habouzit, Herve Fournier and Guillaume Reisacher, recognised as political advisers, have been declared persona non grata and given 48 hours to evacuate the country.

The French foreign ministry in Paris did not immediately comment on the expulsions.

Meanwhile, Burkina Faso’s leader, Captain Traore, in his move to distance the country from France since the September 2022 coup, has cancelled the 1961 military accord between the two countries, ordered a withdrawal of French troops and turned increasingly to Russia for security support.

With reports of increasing Russia’s presence in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, the three military regimes have since formed a defence and economic pact, the Alliance of Sahel States, in September, and in February announced their withdrawal from the West African bloc, ECOWAS.

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