Paris on Tuesday said its embassy in Niamey, Niger’s capital, was now closed, confirming previously reported plans, after relations between the two countries deteriorated following a military coup in the African country in July 2023.
“For five months, our embassy has been severely hampered” by obstacles that have obstructed its diplomatic mission, a spokeswoman for the French foreign ministry said in a statement.
“A blockade around the embassy, travel restrictions for staff and the refusal to allow any diplomatic personnel to travel to Niger was a clear violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” the statement continued.