EU ministers back sanctions for Niger over coup

FILE PHOTO: Colonel Ibro Amadou delivers a message as he stands with other Nigerien junta leaders while Nigeriens gather one month since coup, in support of the putschist soldiers and to demand French ambassador to leave, in the capital Niamey, Niger August 26, 2023. REUTERS/Mahamadou Hamidou

TOLEDO, Spain (Reuters) -European Union foreign ministers decided on Thursday to lay the legal groundwork for sanctions on coup leaders in Niger but reserved judgment on whether they would support military action by a regional force to restore the ousted government.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said sanctions would mirror those applied by West African regional body ECOWAS and would include humanitarian exemptions.