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EU backtracks on Algeria’s military deployment in Niger after protests from Algiers and Niamey

11 November 2026 · Algeria Now

The European Union has reversed its stance on the deployment of Algerian army units to Niger, declaring on Tuesday that the decision is an exclusively bilateral matter between the two countries, after its earlier call for explanations drew sharp protests from both Algiers and Niamey.

Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Anouar El Anouni, spokesperson for the EU’s foreign service, said the bloc “fully” respects the sovereignty of Algeria and Niger, has no wish to interfere and never intended to ask either government to clarify their bilateral engagement. He added that the bloc now wants to work with both partners on security, stability and prosperity in the Sahel.

The statement marks a clear climbdown. On 30 October, the same spokesperson had said Brussels was following the situation closely and sought clarification on the scope, objectives and legal basis of the deployment.

A sovereign decision, taken at Niger’s request

The deployment rests on a military cooperation protocol signed in October during a visit to Algiers by Niger’s defence minister, General Salifou Mody. On 25 October, both chambers of Algeria’s parliament approved it in closed session, as the 2020 constitution requires for any deployment of troops abroad, and President Abdelmadjid Tebboune ordered it the next day. The units are tasked with protecting energy installations and shared economic projects, including Algerian oil interests in Niger. On Monday, the army chief of staff, General Saïd Chanegriha, stressed that the deployment was made at Niger’s request.

It is the first time Algeria has sent troops abroad since 1973, when it stood alongside Egypt against Israel. Algerian officials have insisted the mission is strictly defensive: Algeria is not sending its soldiers to wage war in Niger, one senator said.

A rebuke from both capitals

The EU’s initial remarks were received in Algiers and Niamey as interference. Niger’s prime minister, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, summoned the EU’s interim chargé d’affaires to demand explanations for comments he called unacceptable and condescending, and both capitals raised the matter with the bloc’s representatives. On Tuesday, the bureau of the Council of the Nation, Algeria’s upper house, condemned what it called an arrogant and immature foreign intervention and said Algeria would accept no bargaining or blackmail over its strategic choices.

The episode carries a clear message. Algeria, which shares a border of nearly 1,000 kilometres with Niger, regards the stability of the Sahel as a matter of its own national security, and its partnership with Niamey, from the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline to security cooperation, as a decision for two sovereign states alone.

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