Burkina Faso expels 3 French diplomats on charges of subversive activities
Burkina Faso expelled 3 French diplomats, including two political advisors at the French embassy in Ouagadougou, accusing them of carrying out subversive activities in a new chapter of tension between the two countries.
A memorandum issued by the Burkinabe Foreign Ministry addressed to the French embassy in the country considered the three diplomats “persona non grata,” calling on them to leave within 48 hours.
Last December 1, in Ouagadougou, the Burkinabe authorities arrested 4 French employees, whom they considered “intelligence agents,” while France said they were “maintenance technicians in the field of information technology,” and they are now “under house arrest”.
A year before that, in December 2022, Burkina Faso also expelled two Frenchmen who were working in a company in the country, whom it suspected of being spies.
Relations between Burkina Faso and France have been tensing since Captain Ibrahim Traore came to power following a military coup in September 2022.
A few months after assuming office, he canceled a military agreement between the two countries dating back to 1961, and also expelled French forces from the country.
The Burkinabe authorities also stopped broadcasting and publishing a number of French media outlets in the country, including Radio France International, France 24, Jeune Afrique magazine, and Le Monde newspaper.
