Burkina Faso’s ruling party on Friday cut diplomatic ties with former colonial ruler France, accusing Paris of continuing to act against its interests.
The military regime led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, in power since the coup of September 2022, pursues a policy of repression against critical voices and hatred against the West, especially France.
“The government of Burkina Faso informs the national and international community that it has decided to break diplomatic relations with France as of today, June 26, 2026,” it announced in a statement read on the West African nation’s television.
The junta also accused France of harboring “neo-colonial ambitions, manifested by its support for rebel and terrorist networks that plunge our country and the Sahel into mourning”.
Burkina Faso, like several of its neighbors, has for a decade suffered from deadly violence by jihadists linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
According to the statement, this decision “only concerns the institutional system of relations between the two countries at the diplomatic level”.
