The military regime of Burkina Faso announced that it would “break” its diplomatic relations with France from Friday June 26, which it accuses of “incessant activism” against its interests, after several years of strong tensions between the two countries.
The junta led by Captain Ibrahim Traoré, in power since a coup d’état in September 2022, pursues a sovereignist policy, repressive towards any critical voice and hostile to Westerners, in particular to France, a former colonial power.
“The government of Burkina Faso brings to the attention of national and international opinion that it has taken the decision to sever its diplomatic relations with the French Republic as of June 26, 2026,” he declared in a press release read on national television.
The junta also accuses France of nourishing “neocolonial ambitions displayed with active support for subversive networks and terrorists who are mourning our country and the Sahel”.
Burkina, like many of its neighbors, has been undermined for a decade by deadly jihadist violence by armed groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State organization.
According to the press release, this decision “exclusively targets the institutional framework of relations between the two States at the diplomatic level”. It “in no way calls into question the historical, human, cultural and social ties which unite the Burkinabé and French people”, underlines the government.
