EU calls on Burkina Faso coup leaders to release President Roch Kabore

The European Union said the situation in Burkina Faso is “worrying” and called for the release of the country’s president Roch Kabore.

“We are following the development of the situation in Burkina Faso with great concern,” Josep Borrell, who chaired a meeting of EU foreign ministers, told a news conference.

The comments came after Burkina Faso’s army announced it had ousted Kabore, suspended the constitution, dissolved the government and the national assembly, and closed the country’s borders.

The announcement cited the deterioration of the security situation and what the army described as Kabore’s inability to unite the West African nation and effectively respond to challenges, which include an Islamist insurgency.

Signed by Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba and read by another officer on state television, the announcement said the takeover had been carried out without violence and that those detained were at a secure location.

The statement was made in the name of a previously unheard-of entity, the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration, or MPSR, its French-language acronym.

Kabore’s whereabouts were unknown on Monday, with conflicting accounts of his situation.

Landlocked Burkina Faso, one of West Africa’s poorest despite being a gold producer, has experienced numerous coups since independence from France in 1960.

via Reuters