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Benin government says armed forces foil coup attempt

Published

2 months ago

December 7, 2025

Benin government says armed forces foil coup attempt

Item 1 of 4 A group of soldiers gives a statement on Benin’s national television, claiming to have seized power, following reports of a coup attempt underway against the government of Benin’s President Patrice Talon, in Cotonou, Benin, in this screengrab from a handout video obtained by Reuters on December 7, 2025. Benin TV/Handout via REUTERS

[1/4]A group of soldiers gives a statement on Benin’s national television, claiming to have seized power, following reports of a coup attempt underway against the government of Benin’s President Patrice Talon, in Cotonou, Benin, in this screengrab from a handout video obtained by Reuters on December… Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab Read more

COTONOU, Dec 7 (Reuters) – Benin’s government said on Sunday its armed forces had foiled a coup attempt after a group of soldiers in the West African nation claimed on national television to have seized power.

The attempted coup was the latest threat to democratic rule in the region, where the military have in recent years seized power in Benin’s neighbours Niger and Burkina Faso, as well as Mali, Guinea and, only last month, Guinea-Bissau.

At least eight soldiers, several holding weapons, went on state television on Sunday morning to announce that a military committee led by Colonel Tigri Pascal had taken over and was dissolving national institutions, suspending the constitution and closing air, land and maritime borders.

“The army solemnly commits to give the Beninese people the hope of a truly new era, where fraternity, justice and work prevail,” said a statement read by one of the soldiers.

A few hours later, Interior Minister Alassane Seidou said the West African country’s armed forces had thwarted the attempted coup.

“Therefore, the government urges the population to go about their business as usual,” he said.

Foreign Minister Olushegun Adjadi Bakari had earlier told Reuters that “a small group” of soldiers had attempted to overthrow the government but that forces loyal to President Patrice Talon were working to restore order.

He said the coup plotters had only managed to take control of state television, which was cut after the soldiers read out their statement. It resumed broadcasting shortly afterwards, allowing the interior minister to read his statement saying the coup bid had been foiled.

West Africa’s regional bloc ECOWAS and the African Union condemned the coup attempt.

GUNFIRE IN SEVERAL NEIGHBOURHOODS

Gunfire could be heard earlier on Sunday in several neighbourhoods of Cotonou, the country’s largest city and economic hub, as residents were trying to make their way to church early on Sunday morning.

The French embassy said gunfire had been reported near Talon’s residence in Cotonou and urged citizens to stay at home.

By early afternoon, police were deployed at major intersections in the city centre and the gunfire had died down, witnesses said.

Narcisse, a furniture salesman in Cotonou who gave only his first name for safety reasons, said he first heard gunshots at 8:00 am (0700 GMT) and soon saw police officers speeding past.

“I got scared and brought my sofas inside and closed. It’s a bit calmer now, which is why I reopened,” he said.

The coup attempt came as Benin was preparing for a presidential election in April that would mark the end of the tenure of incumbent Talon, in power since 2016.

In their TV statement, the soldiers mentioned the deteriorating security situation in northern Benin “coupled with the disregard and neglect of our fallen brothers-in-arms.”

Talon has been credited with reviving the economy, but the country has also seen an increase in attacks by jihadist militants that have wreaked havoc in Mali and Burkina Faso.

In April, the government said that 54 soldiers were killed in an attack in the north by an affiliate of Al Qaeda.

Last month, Benin adopted a new constitution extending the presidential mandate from five to seven years, in what critics said was a power grab by the ruling coalition, who nominated Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni to be its candidate.

The opposition Democrats party, founded by Talon’s predecessor Thomas Boni Yayi, saw its proposed candidate rejected because of what a court ruled was insufficient backing from lawmakers.

Benin experienced several military coups and coup attempts in the first decades after independence from France in 1960. But there has not been a power grab by force in the country since it held multiparty elections in 1991.

Reporting by Pulcherie Adjoha, Robbie Corey-Boulet, Alice Lawson, Thiam Ndiaga and Maxwell Akalaare Adombila
Writing by Bate Felix, Robbie Corey-Boulet, Silvia Aloisi
Editing by Louise Heavens and Christina Fincher

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Video: Landslide in Sicily Leaves Homes Teetering on Edge

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1 hour ago

January 28, 2026

Press Room

Video: Landslide in Sicily Leaves Homes Teetering on Edge

new video loaded: Landslide in Sicily Leaves Homes Teetering on Edge

A town in Sicily was left teetering on the edge after a landslide, triggered by a violent storm which battered southern Italy last week. More than 1,500 people have been evacuated.

By Monika Cvorak and Meg Felling

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World

Spain legalizes up to 500,000 undocumented migrants, sparking backlash

Published

2 hours ago

January 28, 2026

Press Room

Spain legalizes up to 500,000 undocumented migrants, sparking backlash

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As the United States experiences negative net migration due to President Donald Trump policies, Spain is heading in the opposite direction, announcing plans to grant legal status for up to half a million illegal migrants.

Spain’s Socialist-led government approved a royal decree on Tuesday, allowing unauthorized immigrants who entered the country before the end of 2025 and who have lived there for at least five months and have no criminal record to obtain one-year residency and work permits with possible pathways to citizenship.

While many European governments have moved to tighten immigration policies — some encouraged by the Trump administration’s hardline approach — Spain has taken a different path. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his ministers have repeatedly highlighted what they describe as the economic benefits of legal migration, particularly for the country’s aging workforce.

WHITE HOUSE ROADMAP SAYS EUROPE MAY BE ‘UNRECOGNIZABLE’ IN 20 YEARS AS MIGRATION RAISES DOUBTS ABOUT US ALLIES

Spain’s Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance María Jesús Montero and second Deputy Prime Minister and Labor Minister Yolanda Díaz at the Spanish Parliament in Madrid, Spain, March 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Spain “will not look the other way,” Migration Minister Elma Saiz told reporters at a news conference, saying the government is “dignifying and recognizing people who are already in our country.”

The plan has sparked a fierce political battle, as conservatives and the populist Vox party have condemned what they describe as an amnesty that could fuel irregular migration.

Vox leader Santiago Abascal wrote on social media that the measure “harms all Spaniards,” arguing critics of his party are motivated by fear of Vox’s growing influence.

“They are not worried about the consequences of Sánchez’s criminal policies,” Abascal wrote. “They are worried that Vox will gain more strength.”

Alan Mendoza, executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, told Fox News Digital that “Spain’s decision appears calculated to increase the lure of Europe as a destination for illegal migrants in general, causing problems for all of its neighbors.

“If Spain wishes to become a repository for such people, then I’m sure other European countries would appreciate signing agreements to transfer their own illegal migrants there. Absent this, we will all be paying the price for Spanish largesse.”

TRUMP SAYS HUNGARY’S BORDER STANCE KEEPS CRIME DOWN, SAYS EUROPE ‘FLOODING’ WITH MIGRANTS

A migrant walks by a makeshift settlement where migrants evicted from a former high school were camping outdoors in the middle of winter in Badalona, Spain, Dec. 26, 2025. (Bruna Casas/Reuters)

Ricard Zapata-Barrero, a political science professor at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, told Fox News Digital, “This is not a symbolic gesture. It is a direct challenge to the dominant European approach, which treats irregular migration primarily as a policing issue. Spain, instead, frames it as a governance problem, one that requires institutional capacity, legal pathways and administrative realism rather than more detention centers and externalized borders.”

Migrants in Madrid, Spain, April 9, 2024. (Francesco Militello Mirto/Nur Photo via Getty Images)

He said Spain’s immigration system had been showing signs of strain for years.

“When hundreds of thousands of people live in irregularity for years, the issue stops being an individual failure and becomes a structural one,” Zapata-Barrero said. “In this context, regularization is not leniency — it is governability.

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Migrants wait to disembark at the Port of Arguineguin after being rescued by a Spanish Coast Guard vessel on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain, Nov. 14, 2025. (Borja Suarez/Reuters)

“In a Europe closing in on itself, Spain has taken a step that sets it apart — not because it is ‘softer,’ but because it is more pragmatic,” he added. “Whether this becomes a model or a counter-model inside the EU remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: Spain has launched a political experiment that Europe will watch closely.”

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Efrat Lachter is an investigative reporter and war correspondent. Her work has taken her to 40 countries, including Ukraine, Russia, Iraq, Syria, Sudan and Afghanistan. She is a recipient of the 2024 Knight-Wallace Fellowship for Journalism. Lachter can be followed on X @efratlachter.

World

Free trade or fair play? MEPs go head-to-head on Mercosur in The Ring

Published

4 hours ago

January 28, 2026

Press Room

Free trade or fair play? MEPs go head-to-head on Mercosur in The Ring

Published on
28/01/2026 – 20:30 GMT+1

What are the pros and cons of the EU-Mercosur trade deal? Why did the European Parliament send the text to the Court of Justice for clarification? Why did the EU sign an EU-India trade deal this week, and how will it impact you?

Some of the questions we pose on our latest episode of The Ring – Euronews’ weekly debating show, brought to you from the European Parliament studio in Brussels.

Irish MEP Ciaran Mullooly from Renew Europe and Swedish MEP Jörgen Warborn from the European People’s Party have a heated debate about their interpretation of the deal that was signed in Paraguay recently, after over two decades of negotiations.

Supporters of the deal say it shows the EU is open for business and can act decisively in a world of turmoil and geopolitical competition. Jörgen Warborn argues new trade deals are essential for growth, diversification, and global influence.

Critics of the pact fear low standards in food safety and inadequate support for European farmers. Ciaran Mullooly worries about farmers being undermined, environmental standards and public trust being eroded.

This episode of The Ring is anchored by Méabh Mc Mahon, produced by Luis Albertos and Amaia Echevarria, and edited by Zacharia Vigneron.

Watch The Ring on Euronews TV or in the player above and send us your views by writing to thering@euronews.com