OUAGADOUGOU, March 20 (Xinhua) -- The Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) has condemned a European Parliament resolution on Niger's detention of former president Mohamed Bazoum as "serious, concerted and deliberate interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state."

Broadcasting on Burkina Faso state television, the regional bloc said in a statement on Thursday that the European Parliament has shown "selectivity that is both ill-timed and malicious," while remaining silent on "real, blatant, illegitimate, repeated and ongoing violations of international law" committed elsewhere in the world, as well as the security crisis the AES Confederation has been facing for more than a decade.

Burkina Faso President Ibrahim Traore currently serves as the rotating president of the AES Confederation, established in July 2024 and grouping Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

The statement quoted Traore as saying that the AES Confederation "has neither injunctions nor lessons on governance to receive," particularly from actors who, "rather than relaying or even being the source of false information, would do better to refocus their efforts on addressing their own societal crises."

The European Parliament resolution is "completely out of step" with the new political, economic and social momentum underway among the peoples of the confederation, and "will in no way affect its course," the statement said.

In its March 12 resolution, the European Parliament said that since a military coup in July 2023, Bazoum and his wife have been held in detention without full access to legal counsel or family visits. It called for Bazoum's immediate and unconditional release and a return to constitutional order. ■