Algeria Deploys Troops to Niger: Why It Matters for the EU

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents Algeria Deploys Troops to Niger: Why It Matters for the EU.

The Troops Are to Protect Madama and the Pipeline

For the first time since the 1973 war, Algeria is deploying its army overseas again. According to the Algerian presidency, the country is sending troops to Niger to protect its economic interests. Parliament adopted a corresponding resolution on Sunday.

The intended location is Madama, a city in northern Niger near the Libyan border. The presidency did not disclose when the units would be deployed or how large they would be. Both remain unclear. What is confirmed is the deployment decision, the protective purpose and the intended location.

For the European Union, the energy sector is the most important economic connection. The state-owned Algerian oil and gas company Sonatrach is working with Niger and Nigeria on the Trans-Saharan Pipeline. African natural gas is expected to be exported to Europe through this link. With the troop deployment, the security of this planned energy route is directly tied to the Algerian army’s first overseas mission in decades. The report in Der Spiegel does not provide further details on the timing or project.

Niger’s Military Government and the Tense Situation

The deployment is taking place in a difficult environment. Since the coup in July 2023, Niger has been governed by a military regime. Relations between Algiers and the new leadership had deteriorated in the meantime. The planned military presence in Madama therefore forms part of a tense bilateral situation.

There is also the fight against rebels allied with al-Qaeda and the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS). The deployment is therefore intended not only to accompany infrastructure, but also to protect Algerian interests in a country where the military situation and relations with government representatives are both under pressure.

The security mandate consequently has two levels. On the one hand, it concerns the Trans-Saharan Pipeline, which is conceived as part of a larger export project with Niger and Nigeria. On the other hand, the deployment involves a border region where Algerian-Nigerien relations have recently deteriorated and where fighting against the rebels is under way. The presidency did not specify how many soldiers are planned or how long they are expected to remain.

MINURSO Ends After More Than 30 Years

Alongside the Niger deployment, the UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara is nearing its end. On Friday evening, Russia used its veto in the UN Security Council to block a US-sponsored resolution to extend the MINURSO mandate. The mandate expired the following Saturday.

The US draft provided for extending the mission by one year. At the same time, Morocco’s plan to incorporate Western Sahara into its territory as an autonomous region was to be recorded as the sole basis for negotiations. The draft also provided for reducing MINURSO’s military component and removing references to a possible referendum from the mandate. A Russian counterdraft also failed in the Security Council.

France, the United Kingdom and nine non-permanent members of the Security Council supported the US draft. Morocco welcomed the failure to extend the mandate and said that UN mission personnel and equipment should leave the territory in the following days. The royal household also stressed that it intended to continue complying with the ceasefire.

MINURSO was established in 1991 to organize a referendum on Western Sahara’s independence. The vote never took place. The US ambassador to the UN, Michael Waltz, said that long-running disagreements over who was eligible to vote had prevented a referendum. The Russian ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, criticized the US draft as a one-sided favor to Morocco, adding that the Security Council must not preempt questions of sovereignty.

What the End of Monitoring Means for the Region

The deployment breaks with a long-standing Algerian practice. According to Der Spiegel, it is the first overseas deployment of the Algerian army since the country supported Egypt in the 1973 war. Algeria is therefore not only stationing its units in a location that has been unusual until now, but is once again assuming a military role beyond its own borders.

The aid organization Oxfam also warned of the consequences of withdrawing the MINURSO troops. Without the existing monitoring and de-escalation duties, security and stability would be endangered. This could have serious consequences for the civilian population and for prospects of a peaceful solution.

For 50 years, Western Sahara has been fought over between Morocco and the Polisario Front. Morocco controls most of the territory, while the Polisario Front, supported by Algeria, seeks an independent state. Western Sahara was a Spanish colony until 1975 and was annexed by Morocco afterward. Tens of thousands of Sahrawis live in refugee camps in Algeria.

The connection for Europe is therefore more tangible than ever: Algeria is securing with its soldiers a pipeline intended to carry African natural gas from Niger and Nigeria to Europe. The exact scope of the security mandate, the timing of the deployment and the number of troops are still unknown. What is clear is that Algeria is ending its decades-long restriction on overseas deployments as the MINURSO mandate expires and the security situation in the region becomes more complicated.