Top German diplomat: West Africa stability key for European security

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who is set to travel to West Africa on Monday, is hoping to expand cooperation with Senegal and Ivory Coast in order to prevent instability currently rocking the Sahel from spreading to the rest of the region.

"If more countries in West Africa descend into instability, that will not only have dramatic consequences for the local population, but also a direct impact on our security in Europe," the minister said ahead of her two-day visit to the region.

Baerbock pointed to Senegal in particular as an important mediator in the region.

Senegal and Ivory Coast, who are among West Africa's few remaining democracies, are considered two of the most important partners for Europe at a time when more and more Sahel nations are turning to Russia.

Baerbock's visit comes amid a wave of instability in the Sahel region, which some observers have termed the Coup Belt, following military uprisings in Mali, Chad, Guinea, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Niger and Gabon since 2020.

While many of the new military governments have turned away from relations with the European Union, withdrawn from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and canvassed support from Russian forces, Senegal and Ivory Coast have maintained their relations with the West.

The people of the two coastal nations as well as "other countries bordering the Sahel live under the constant threat that terror and violence from neighbouring countries will also seep into their societies," Baerbock said.

During her trip, the German minister is scheduled to meet her Senegalese counterpart Yassine Fall alongside newly elected President Bassirou Diomaye Faye in Dakar on Monday.

Migration and renewable energies are likely to be two topics under discussion, with German business representatives accompanying Baerbock on her visit.