Is Europe really denying visas to AES passport holders?
As of January, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, members of the Alliance of the States of Sahel (AES), have officially left the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and have introduced a new passport. However, holders of the new travel document in Mali have reportedly been unable to obtain visas for European countries.
Administrative delay
Two different European consulates in Bamako, when questioned separately by Radio France International, explained the reasons for the refusal. There is no issue with recognising the AES passport itself, but on the Malian side, there had been a delay in submitting specimen passports (or sample documents) to embassies and consulates for identification of the new travel documents. The consulates clarified that once this process was complete, visas could be issued.
In a statement, Mali’s Ministry of Security affirmed that all diplomatic and consular missions accredited in the country had been informed of the launch of the AES passport and that physical specimens had been sent. However, the ministry acknowledged that the system was not yet fully streamlined, and they had therefore urged holders of the new passports to contact them in case of any difficulties. As such, European countries, and the EU in particular, were neither responsible for nor implicated in this glitch.
The spread of false rumours
Nevertheless, false rumours spread online claiming that the EU and European countries such as France were denying visas for AES passport holders. So, what happened? Let us walk through it together.
First, influential troll accounts crafted and published deceptive content on social media. In mid-February, various accounts that are common peddlers of pro-Russian disinformation, such as ‘Histoire d’Afrique’ on X, accused the French consulate in Bamako of denying the validity of the new passports issued by the Alliance of the States of Sahel, while others went so far as to claim that the EU wanted to see the AES passports’ validity denied.
It not uncommon for actors linked to Russia to camouflage as being part of pan-Africanist movements to push anti-EU narratives online for their own gain. For example, a pan-Africanist influencer called Gandhi Malien (who is commonly connected with the Russian intelligence services-linked outlet African Initiative) published on his Facebook page that ‘France and the European Union are blocking AES passports in violation of all international norms to oblige AES states to revert their choice and rejoin ECOWAS’.
Amplification through social media
In the next phase, networks of Facebook accounts flooded the information environment with their content. Copies of the same post issued by Gandhi Malien were cross-posted to dozens of public Facebook groups impersonating real media outlets, giving the information an air of legitimacy. For You Media Africa and Afrique Media TV also chipped in, respectively issuing a video and publishing an article on the topic. Reporters Without Borders describes For You Media as a broadcaster of pan-Africanist rhetoric as well as pro-Russian and anti-Western narratives. It has also been known to recruit former journalists from Afrique Media TV, also known for its editorial ties to the Russian state media outlet RT.
Such tactics raise the odds of more prominent figures picking up disinformation and promoting it further, making the content seem more legitimate. These excerpts were also shared by other prominent pan-Africanists like Zack Mwekassa, a YouTuber and former boxer with 1.16 million subscribers, who contributed to spreading the false story.
What was an administrative glitch was quickly distorted into a false claim, causing people to believe that the EU and European countries denied the validity of the AES passport when that was not the case.
