Denmark sees a need to “offer an attractive alternative to the increasing Chinese and Russian influence on the continent”
Denmark has announced plans to close its embassies in Burkina Faso and Mali in response to military coups in both West African countries, which it claims have left little room for cooperation.
The move is part of the Danish government’s new strategy for partnership with Sahel nations, the foreign ministry said on Monday.
Mali and Burkina Faso have been under military rule since 2020 and 2022, respectively. Both cited the failure of civilian governments to quell long-running jihadist insurgencies as justification for seizing power.
Since then, the military authorities have severed defense ties with several Western and European Union countries, including former colonial power France, and have instead turned to Russia for cooperation.
The series of military coups in the former French colonies have “created very limited room for action in the Sahel region,” the Danish Foreign Ministry has said.
It said Copenhagen would increase its diplomatic “muscle power” at the embassies in Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, and Ghana, while opening new ones in Senegal, Tunisia, and Rwanda.
“We have a clear interest in the African countries looking towards us in Europe when they have to chart the course for their future. We must show that we can offer an attractive alternative to the increasing Chinese and Russian influence on the continent,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen stated.
As part of its new policy, the Danish government has pledged to provide more “concrete” support for the EU’s efforts in Africa in 2025, with a focus on regional free trade, green infrastructure, and digitalization.
Russia’s presence in Africa, particularly in the Sahel region, where the governments of Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and the Central African Republic recognize Moscow as a strategic security partner, has been a source of concern in the EU and the West. France and some Western allies, including the US, accuse Moscow of pursuing a predatory agenda on the continent and fueling anti-French sentiment. In January, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc was facing a dilemma over its remaining presence in the Sahel region due to Moscow’s increasing influence.
