Netherlands halts "direct cooperation" with Niger after military coup

The Netherlands is halting “direct cooperation” with Niger after the military coop in the African country last week. The government is also suspending all support for development and security projects that run through Niger’s national government.

The Netherlands does “not want to cooperate with the coup plotters,” outgoing Ministers Wopke Hoekstra of Foreign Affairs and Liesje Schreinermacher for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation said in a statement on Friday.

Among the projects no longer receiving funding from the Netherlands are a health project and a program to strengthen the prison system in Niger. The Ministry had 10 million euros allocated to these two projects. The government is also cutting support for the training of mobile border guards as part of the civilian EU mission EUCAP Sahel Nigher. €5 million was allocated to that project.

The departing Ministers said they’re looking into whether they can keep funding projects that don’t run through the Niger government but are managed by the United Nations, other international organizations, or local partners.

A group of soldiers staged a military coup in Niger last week, detaining President Mohamed Bazoum and seizing power. Nineteen Dutch people have been evacuated from the country.