Burkina Faso has expelled three French diplomats for “subversive activities”, in the latest sign of deteriorating bilateral relations, African media reported.
The diplomats were “declared persona non grata and given 48 hours to leave the country,” Burkina Faso’s official news agency reported on Thursday, citing the Foreign Ministry. One source with direct knowledge of the situation, who asked not to be named, said that the diplomats were kicked out because of meetings that they had with civil society members.
The junta has previously expelled French troops, recalled the French ambassador, and suspended some French media outlets.
In 2022, the military junta expelled two French citizens accused of espionage amid growing anti-French sentiment. That same year, demonstrators demanding France’s withdrawal from Burkina Faso attacked the French embassy in Ouagadougou.
Two coups took place in the African country in 2022. In January 2022, the military overthrew the elected president Roch Marc Kabore. Angry soldiers led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, who overthrew Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba amid growing insecurity, staged the second coup in September 2022.
