France will end its military presence in Niger by the end of 2023, Macron says

France will end its military presence in Niger by the end of 2023, French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday, marking the latest major development amid high tensions between the two countries since a military junta seized control of Niger in July.

"We are putting an end to our military cooperation with the de facto authorities of Niger because they don't want to fight terrorism anymore," Macron said regarding the military leaders who took over rule of the northwest African country.

France has not recognized Niger's military authorities and insists that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, who was toppled in the coup, remains the country's only legitimate authority.

The decision to end the "cooperation" is "because we are not there to deal with internal politics and be hostages of putschists," Macron said, referring to the military group.

The withdrawal will be organized in the coming weeks, he said.

"They will come back in an orderly manner in the weeks and months to come, and for that, we will coordinate with the putschists because we want this to happen calmly," Macron said.

France had stationed military troops in the country, many of whom were there to assist with counterterrorism missions, on the basis that Niger was a relatively stable democracy in a region fraught with political upheaval, terrorism and Islamist insurgencies, CNN has reported.