The Department of National Security is following "minute by minute and with great concern" the situation in Niger after the coup d'état suffered by the African country last week by a group of Nigerien soldiers - who are holding the country's president hostage - . Niger, according to sources in the advisory body to the President of the Government on matters of National Security, is for Spain the "last great ally" in the Sahel in the joint police fight against the mafias that traffic in human beings and against jihadist terrorism. National police and civil guards are deployed there in European missions, which can be dangerous if the country does not return to the democratic path. For years, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has maintained the maxim that to prevent irregular immigration, collaboration with the countries of origin and transit of migratory flows is fundamental. Niger - whose president, held by the military, is the only civilian leader left in the Sahel - is a box through which the vast majority of migrants bound for Spain or Italy must pass. For this reason, Niger - considered by the Government of Pedro Sánchez as "a great partner" - is among the African countries that have seen the subsidies received by the Ministry of the Interior multiply to contain irregular immigration.
But not all of it is direct aid, such as that headed by Morocco. A European police project is underway in Niger to fight against criminal organizations that traffic in migrants. Four National Police officers and four French officers are involved. A month ago, Interior reported with great expectations that the project was starting its third phase - with a budget of 13 million euros. This new phase, now at risk of being suspended, should last five years. During the first two, carried out between 2017 and 2022, 824 people have been arrested - 753 imprisoned - and 57 national and 196 more international networks have been identified.
On the part of the Civil Guard, a commander and a sergeant of the armed institute are part of the EUCAP Sahel Niger mission of the European Union, designed to provide advice and training to the Nigerien authorities when strengthening their police capacities in the fight against terrorism and organized crime.
Despite the fact that the European Union extended this mission until September 30, 2024 with an adapted mandate, from the Interior they explain that the two Spanish uniformed officers are already in Spain for their vacation period and will not return to Niger because their period It ended precisely in August. From the department that Marlaska leads, they do not specify, for now, if the two Spanish uniforms will be replaced by two more colleagues.
The other big problem that the European teams with a Spanish presence are fighting against is terrorism, now that the Sahel has become a haven for jihadist organizations. At a time when countries like Spain have reduced the military presence in African countries to the maximum, like the rest of the European partners, Niger was emerging as the last stronghold where the center of operations of the fight against terrorism can be established in the Sahel. The coup adds more uncertainty to the future of the military detachments, according to the same sources.
Faced with the lack of certainty, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, already asked the Spaniards in Niger to contact the embassy immediately "for any eventuality that may arise, any need".
