&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Burkina Faso severs diplomatic ties with former ruler France, Paris hits back")
Captain Ibrahim Traore, the military ruler of Burkina Faso, decided to cut diplomatic ties with its former colonial ruler, France, accusing it of continuously acting against the country's interests.
"The government of Burkina Faso hereby informs the national and international community that it has decided to sever diplomatic relations with France with effect from today, June 26, 2026," it announced in a statement read out on the West African nation's national television.
The military junta led by Traore, which came to power in a September 2022 coup, also accused France of having "neo-colonial ambitions, made evident by its active support for subversive networks and the terrorists who are plunging our country and the Sahel into mourning".
The West African country, like several of its neighbours, has been reeling under deadly violence by Islamic jihadist groups linked to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State.
In its statement, Burkina Faso clarified that the decision concerns only institutional ties between the two countries and does not call for cutting human and cultural ties.
This decision “concerns exclusively the institutional framework of relations between the two states exclusively at the diplomatic level.”
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It "in no way calls into question the historical, human, cultural and social ties that unite the Burkinabe and French peoples", the government said.
France, which ruled Burkina Faso and other parts of northern, central and western Africa during the colonial period, continued to intervene militarily in the region after the early 1960s, contributing to growing anti-French sentiment among nationalist governments.
The 34-year-old Traore has adopted a strongly nationalist and anti-French stance since coming to power. He earlier expelled French military forces from the country, banned Paris-based media outlets and urged other African nations to abandon their ties with France.
He has also realigned Burkina Faso away from the West by forging closer military and economic partnerships with Russia, Turkey and China.
France has vowed to abandon the so-called "Francafrique" strategy, under which Paris sought to keep francophone Africa under its thumb through political collusion, exclusive access for French businesses and oblique financial deals, including graft.
In response, France on Friday described Burkina Faso's decision to sever diplomatic ties over allegations that Paris acted against the West African country's interests as a "hostile and baseless decision".
The foreign ministry said the "unilateral decision" showed "the troubling drift of the Burkinabe authorities", adding that "the necessary reciprocal measures are under review".
