"I strongly condemn these coups."

Senegalese President Macky Sall castigated, on Saturday February 5, on the sidelines of the African Union summit, the successive putsches in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea.

"We cannot tolerate the intervention of the armies in political processes, whatever the reasons", he hammered at the microphone of France 24.

Since the coup in Mali in August 2020, two other West African countries, Guinea and Burkina Faso, have fallen to the military.

A worrying situation for the countries of the African Union who fear an "epidemic" of coups in the region.

>> To read also: "Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso ... the temptation of the coup in West Africa"

“Sanctions are the ultimate weapon”

The Senegalese president also gave his support to the sanctions decided by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

"Sanctions are the ultimate weapon," he said.

"ECOWAS had never tried to sanction leaders from the outset as it did in Mali for example."

Reproaching the transitional authorities for not having kept their commitments regarding the organization of elections, ECOWAS decreed severe sanctions on January 9th.

Among them, the closure of Mali's borders with its Member States as well as an economic and financial embargo.

"ECOWAS initially supported the transition by accepting the idea of ​​holding elections eighteen months after the putsch. But when the deadline increased to five years, we could not accept that", assures the Senegalese president.

"If we did nothing, these coups would be repeated in all the other countries."

A compromise always possible

Macky Sall, however, ensures that the path of compromise is always possible in Mali.

"It is up to the Malian authorities to propose a compromise to ECOWAS," he said.

"We will be happy to work with them. We don't want sanctions in Mali."

"We are not trying to sanction at all costs", he assured, recalling that Burkina Faso has not yet been subject to any sanction from ECOWAS.

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