Burkina Faso has denounced a European Parliament resolution on alleged repression of civil society organizations and human rights violations in the West African country as unacceptable interference.

The official verbal note from the Burkinabe Ministry of Foreign Affairs was published on Wednesday. The ministry said it had summoned Philippe Bronchain, head of the EU delegation in Ouagadougou, two days earlier, to express the government’s “disapproval, disappointment and disgust” provoked by the resolution.

On June 18, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) adopted three resolutions on the human rights situations in Nicaragua, Belarus, and Burkina Faso. The measure accused Burkinabe authorities of several violations, including dissolving civil society organizations and “severely” undermining press freedoms.

The MEPs criticized “intimidation, unlawful conscription, harassment, arbitrary detention, and enforced disappearance” in the Sahel nation, urging the government to reverse their decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court.

They also expressed “serious concerns over Russia’s influence in Burkina Faso since the expulsion of European forces, contributing to human rights violations and authoritarian drift,” the European Parliament said in a statement.

Prior to the adoption of the resolution, French MEP Christophe Gomart delivered remarks, claiming Burkina Faso was “descending into chaos” and serving as “a sanctuary for Islamist terrorist groups and organized crime.” 

The former head of French military intelligence said the country’s situation “illustrates the dramatic failure of the military junta in power since the 2022 coup.” 

In response, Burkina Faso rejected Gomart’s comments as “accusatory, rude, and untruthful.” Burkinabe Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean-Marie Traore said the longstanding insecurity faced by the country, alongside Mali and Niger, is a direct consequence of NATO’s destabilization of Libya in 2011.

“To see a parliamentarian come and provide false figures about a country he has not visited, we believe he has tarnished the sanctity of the European Parliament by delivering a speech with a neocolonialist undertone,” the minister stated.

He said the ministry had summoned the EU envoy to make clear that Burkina Faso acts with “full sovereignty” over its domestic affairs, stressing that the European Parliament has no authority to impose its will or dictate how the country manages its civic space or security matters.

Ambassador Bronchain said he would “simply relay” Ouagadougou’s concerns to his “superiors” in Brussels.

The latest exchange adds to already strained diplomatic relations between Burkina Faso and the EU since the 2022 military takeover. The authorities in Burkina Faso, along with their allies in Mali and Niger, have cut defense cooperation with EU partners and expelled French troops, accusing France of aggression.