The European Union (EU) rejected on Thursday the military coup that took place on Wednesday in Gabon and the announcement of the dissolution of all democratic institutions, and called for restraint from all parties involved.
“The EU rejects any forcible seizure of power in Gabon and calls on all actors to exercise restraint,” High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said in a statement while attending meetings with ministers from the 27 diplomacy portfolio, in the Spanish city of Toledo.
Borrell added that “the challenges facing Gabon must be resolved while respecting the principles of the rule of law”, the Constitution and democracy.
And he dramatized: “The peace and prosperity of the country, as well as regional stability, depend on it.”
However, as he had said on Thursday morning, the head of European diplomacy wrote that the 27 share “serious concerns about the way in which the electoral process, which preceded the military coup, was organized and carried out.”
Gabonese President Ali Bongo has been in power since 2009. His predecessor is his father, Omar Bongo, who has been in power since 1967.
“An inclusive and substantive dialogue that ensures that the rule of law and human rights are respected, rather than force, is the way to ensure that the expressed will of the Gabonese people is respected,” Borrell concluded.
At the entrance to the meeting with the rulers in Toledo, Josep Borrell revealed that the European Union has to reassess the diplomatic strategy for Africa, after several coups in recent years, two in the space of a month (Niger and Gabon).
“It’s because something went wrong,” he commented, without giving further details.
Source: TSF
