The sudden toppling of the EU's main ally in the Sahel has punctured Western schadenfreude on Russia's Africa-summit flop.
Overnight news on Thursday (27 July) that Niger's army had removed president Mohamed Bazoum from power took Europe by surprise, coming shortly after EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell visited Niamey to praise Bazoum's pro-democratic reforms.
"The HRVP [Borrell] was in Niger last week, everything was going well with the mission, everything was going on t...
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Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.