African Union declares its intolerance for military coups, kicks out Israeli delegation

The heads of state and government of the African Union gathered in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on February 18-19 as part of the work of the 36th ordinary session.

The session came under the slogan “Acceleration of the African Continental Free Trade Area Implementation”, in which the President of the Union of the Comoros, Azali Assoumani, was elected to run the AU for the next year.

Against unconstitutional changes

The AU reiterated its “absolute intolerance” in the face of “unconstitutional changes” in the governments of member states and maintained the membership suspension of Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea and Sudan in the continental organization.

The AU suspended the membership of Mali, Guinea and Sudan in 2021, then Burkina Faso a year later, against the background of the army's seizure of power.

The AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Bankole Adeoye, said in a press conference on Sunday that the Assembly of Member States of the African Union “affirmed zero tolerance for unconstitutional changes of government.”

Adeoye expressed the African Union's desire to help the four countries “return to constitutional order.” However, he stressed the need to “protect” and “consolidate” democracy, and that the AU was firm against any undemocratic accession to power.

Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, lamented the recent return of unconstitutional changes of governments. He stated that this has led to extremism, violence, terrorism, conflict rooted in electoral processes, conflicts between communities, and climate change. At the same time, Faki expressed his satisfaction with the progress made in the “Silencing the Guns” initiative on the continent over the past decade.

Faki revealed that the AU will organize a conference on national reconciliation in Libya, in the latest attempt to restore stability to the conflict-torn country.

Expulsion of Israeli delegation

The 36th African Summit witnessed the expulsion of the Israeli delegation after the delegations of Algeria and South Africa objected to its participation, which necessitated the intervention of the security services to ask the delegation to leave the hall.

Faki said that the Israeli delegation was expelled “because we did not invite Israeli officials,” and he announced the suspension of “the decision to grant Israel observer status until this procedure is discussed by a special committee.”

An Israeli delegation headed by Sharon Barley, Deputy Director for Africa at the Foreign Ministry, tried to participate in the summit’s opening session on Saturday, February 19, but the objection of African countries prevented the delegation from doing so.

Closing statement

The AU approved the final statement, which dealt with several economic, political and security issues, most notably the “Silencing the Guns” initiative to settle conflicts in the continent within an African framework.

The statement also dealt with accelerating the activation of the African Free Trade Area, supporting democratization processes, rejecting military coups, and not recognizing coup regimes. It demanded that the sponsors of mercenaries and foreign fighters immediately withdraw them from the continent.

The statement also called for “supporting the State of Palestine's drive to obtain full membership in the United Nations and calling for its international support.”