Niger intelligence agents expelled from France in sign of diplomatic strain
France expelled two Nigerien intelligence officers posted at Niger's embassy in Paris last month, a diplomatic source told French news agency AFP.
The two officials were declared personae non gratae on 16 September and subsequently left French territory, the source said on Friday, confirming an earlier report by Le Monde.
“They are two agents from the Nigerien intelligence services who no longer had any reason to be present given the lack of cooperation” between France and Niger, the source said.
According to Le Monde, citing a Nigerien source, one of the officers was suspected of carrying out surveillance activities targeting Nigerien opposition figures living in France.
Relationship breakdown
Relations between Paris and Niamey have been severely strained since the military takeover of 26 July 2023, when General Abdourahamane Tiani and other officers overthrew Niger's democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum.
France refused to recognise the new authorities and continued to regard Bazoum as Niger's legitimate head of state.
The junta responded by dismantling the close political and military relationship that Niger had maintained with its former colonial power. Niger's junta leader General Abdourahamane Tiani in Niamey on 6 July 2024.
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In late August 2023, the military authorities ordered the French ambassador, Sylvain Itté, to leave the country.
France initially rejected the demand, arguing that only Niger's recognised government had the authority to expel him. The dispute led to a tense stand-off around the French embassy in Niamey, before Paris eventually withdrew Itté the following month.
Niger's military rulers also scrapped military cooperation agreements with France and demanded the departure of around 1,500 French troops stationed in the country.
The last French soldiers left Niger in December 2023, ending what had been one of France's most important military partnerships in the Sahel.
Shifting alliances
France took the unusual step later that month of closing its embassy in Niamey, saying the mission could no longer operate normally because of restrictions imposed by the Nigerien authorities.
The French government said its diplomats had faced blockades and other obstacles that made normal diplomatic work impossible.
Despite the collapse in relations, however, Niger's embassy in Paris remained open.
Niger has meanwhile moved closer to Russia while distancing itself from France and other Western partners.
Tiani's government has also strengthened ties with neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, which are likewise ruled by military governments and have pursued closer cooperation with Moscow.
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The three countries have sought to coordinate their defence and foreign policies through the Alliance of Sahel States, while reducing their reliance on Western military and diplomatic partners.
For France, the breakdown with Niger forms part of a wider retreat from a region where Paris once maintained extensive military and political influence.
French troops have also withdrawn from Mali and Burkina Faso in recent years following disputes with their respective military governments.
In September 2025, France expelled two officials posted at Mali's embassy in Paris. It followed the arrest of a French intelligence agent in Bamako, who Malian authorities accused of involvement in an attempted coup.
After several months in detention, the agent was pardoned and released in August this year.