Nigerien authorities announced on Monday that they had canceled a contract with the European Union for the deployment of the civilian EUCAP Sahel Niger mission in the African country.

According to the statement published by Niger's National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) on X, "The [Nigerien] Foreign Ministry has the honor to announce the denunciation of the agreement between the Republic of Niger and the European Union regarding the status of the EUCAP Sahel Niger mission, giving six months' advance notice."

The EUCAP Sahel Niger mission is part of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) system, which authorizes the EU to send 'peacekeeping and conflict prevention' operations overseas. 

Urgent 🔴 🔴 🔴 du lourd
La réciprocité est une règle d'or.
Fin de clap pour les opérations de @EUCAPSahelNiger @amir_nourdine @Nath_Yamb @NIGER_CNSP @FranklinNYAMSI @AbdoulayeDiop8 @ChoguelKMaiga merci cnsp d'avoir entendu notre crie pic.twitter.com/4wLi1iOQdC

— L'Afrique des libertés 🗽 (@Almoustaph84153) December 4, 2023

The EU last extended the mission's term to September 2024 with around 130 people working on the mission.

This follows Burkina Faso and Niger withdrawing from all bodies of the G5 Sahel regional association, including the joint military force, the two nations announced in a joint statement on Saturday. 

The Sahel states saw recent military coups, which ousted Western-backed Presidents, in favor of military juntas that hold national projects. The G5 Sahel included Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mauritania, and Chad and aimed to fight terrorism in the region. However, the organization has failed to achieve its objectives, as pointed out by the released joint statement.

Previously, Mali withdrew from the French-backed G5 "anti-terrorism force" in 2022 and forced out the UN MINUSMA force in 2023. On the other hand, in mid-September, it signed along with Burkina Faso and Niger a charter establishing an Alliance of Sahel States (AES) - the Liptako-Gourma Charter - to build a collective defense architecture and mutual collaboration aimed at benefiting the nations' peoples.

The three countries have been fighting the remnants of colonialism stemming from French colonialism and successive leaderships that have failed to secure their national interests.

Although the French and its African allies had vowed to take military action against Niger, no such development has occurred since initial threats were made in late July 2023.

Instead, the country's military junta, under the leadership of General Abdourahmane Tchiani, has strengthened relations with like-minded countries such as Burkina Faso and Mali, while opposing French and American presence in the region.