The final date for Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger's formal withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is January 29, 2025, but the association remains open to a discussion, President of the ECOWAS Commission Omar Alieu Touray told Sputnik.
"According to the treaty, they [Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger] have one year on exactly 29th of January 2025, is the effective date of separation from ECOWAS if the three countries, have not withdrawn their notices during this period," Touray said on the sidelines of the African Union Summit.
The association is ready for dialogue with the authorities of the countries that have announced their withdrawal from ECOWAS, the chairman added.
"The texts of ECOWAS [Charter] are not carved in stone. It is up to across leaders [of the association], including all the three countries, to sit around the table and look at the text and its application. Would they want to revise them? Would they want to keep them as is? I believe that is something up for discussion," Touray said.
He also mentioned that he did not see any signs that the three countries leaving the bloc were not ready for negotiations.
In late January, Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali announced their withdrawal from ECOWAS. They called the bloc a "threat" to its member states and criticized it for imposing "illegal, illegitimate, inhumane and irresponsible" sanctions on the three countries.
The three West African nations were targeted with sanctions by ECOWAS after it demanded the restoration of civilian governments following coups in Mali in 2020, Burkina Faso in 2022, and Niger in 2023.
Last September, the leaders of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger signed a charter establishing the Alliance of Sahel States to create "a collective defense architecture." According to the document, an attack on the sovereignty or territorial integrity of one or more parties to the charter will be regarded as aggression against the other parties and will require their assistance, including the use of military force.