Statement by Ambassador Skoog at the UN Peacebuilding Commission Ambassadorial-level meeting on Burkina Faso

Thank you for this opportunity to speak about Burkina Faso in this forum.

Like all of Burkina Faso's partners, the European Union is particularly concerned about the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation.

For several months now, as you know, armed terrorist groups have been attacking almost daily, causing numerous casualties among civilians and among the defence and security forces, and provoking an unceasing flow of internally displaced persons.

The two million mark for internally displaced persons has certainly been passed, which is considerable for a country of just over 20 million inhabitants.

In this context, the agreement reached between ECOWAS and Burkina Faso on July 3 is crucial.

For the European Union, it was a prerequisite for a relaunch of our bilateral cooperation.

It is important here to commend the constructive attitude of the Burkina Faso authorities, who have remained consistent in their discourse and open to dialogue throughout these negotiations with ECOWAS. This is a testament to their openness but also to their determination to get the country out of this seemingly inextricable situation.

Does this mean that things will now be much simpler? We doubt it very much, if only because the armed terrorist groups operating in Burkina Faso now seem to be better and better equipped and able to organize complex attacks, with a fairly large number of men.

In this situation, we believe it is essential to strengthen our security and defence cooperation.

The European Union has already financed several projects in this area and will continue to do so. We have also regionalized the EUTM Mali mission so that the Burkinabe armed forces can also benefit from useful training.

With the agreement of our member states, it is possible to envisage much more. This will depend above all on the smooth running of the transition process and the follow-up to the agreement reached with ECOWAS, with a view to national elections in 24 months.

At the same time, it seems to us that the decision taken by the Burkinabe government to reach out to young Burkinabe who have been recruited into these armed groups is a good option. I am thinking here of the "local dialogue committees for peace" that have recently been set up and which I hope will produce convincing results.

In the very short term, we believe that the focus should be on humanitarian aid. For 2022, the EU has increased its humanitarian aid budget from 23 to 35.5 MEUR. But this is certainly not enough to help all the people in need.

I would like to support the request of the Burkinabe authorities for more support in this area.

In the longer term, key to curbing the terrorist threat is a significant increase in the social services provided, directly or indirectly, by the Burkinabe state. For several years, the EU has been supporting Burkina Faso in areas such as education, health, water, and sanitation, and we will continue to do so, so that this support will ultimately bear fruit. 

Finally, I would like to conclude my speech by saying that Burkina Faso will only be able to contain the terrorist threat with the support of its immediate neighbours and that regional cooperation is essential, whether in the framework of the G5 Sahel or the Accra Initiative.

Thank you for your attention.