France has denounced Burkina Faso’s decision to sever diplomatic relations as “hostile and baseless,” saying that it “illustrated the troubling drift of the Burkinabe authorities” and that Paris was considering necessary reciprocal measures, it was reported on Friday.

Burkina Faso announced on Friday evening that it had decided to sever diplomatic relations with France with immediate effect, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office.

Burkina Faso’s military government severed diplomatic ties with France, its former colonial ruler that had been a key security partner for the West African nation before relations fractured.

The junta said in a statement on Friday it broke off relations with France effective immediately, accusing it of “blatant neo-colonial ambitions and active support for subversive networks and terrorists,” without providing evidence.

France’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Pascal Confavreux said in a statement that the country regrets the “hostile and unfounded decision, which illustrates the worrying drift of the Burkinabè authorities.”

“Necessary reciprocal measures are currently under review,” he said. Confavreux added that France is monitoring the safety of French government personnel and citizens in Burkina Faso and urged them to exercise heightened vigilance.

According to the statement, the decision followed “a thorough assessment of the current state of bilateral relations between Burkina Faso and France.”

“The conditions essential for promoting relations based on mutual respect, reciprocal trust, respect for the principle of non-interference in internal affairs and national sovereignty are no longer in place,” the government said.

The West African country of 23 million people has been battered by years-long violence perpetrated by extremist groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group as well as government forces often accused of extrajudicial killings. Its wider Sahel region is the world’s deadliest region for extremism.

It was unclear what would follow the end of diplomatic relations or how the French embassy in Burkina Faso would be affected.

“The conditions essential for fostering relations based on mutual respect, reciprocal trust and respect for the principle of non-interference in internal affairs and national sovereignty are no longer met,” Burkina Faso’s Communications Minister Pingdwende Gilbert Ouedraogo said in a statement.

With bare hands and borrowed tools, families in Venezuela desperately dig through rubble for loved ones. The two sides suffered broken relations for years.

Burkina Faso’s military government has in the past targeted foreign diplomats, including the French, whom it has often accused of working against its interests. In 2023, the junta asked France to recall its ambassador and declared the United Nations’ resident and humanitarian coordinator in the country persona non grata, while in 2024, it expelled three French diplomats for alleged subversive activities.

France was Burkina Faso’s major security partner until a 2022 coup. The junta then sacked hundreds of French forces sent to fight extremist groups.

The violence has worsened under the military government that had promised to curb it, analysts say.

In the two years following the coup, Burkina Faso forces allegedly killed twice as many civilians as extremists, according to a recent report by the Human Rights Watch, which blamed government forces for at least 1,200 of the 1,837 civilians killed in the country between January 2023 and August 2025.

• A Tell Media / Xinhua / AP report