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"France has always been an open and welcoming nation for
artists, so this is not a shift in policy. It's an adaptation to
an extremely deteriorated security context," Culture Minister
Rima Abdul-Malak told RTL radio.
Niger's government was overthrown in a military coup in July,
while Burkina Faso has been overrun by hardline militants for
years. Mali's military has also been fighting a rebel alliance
since August, which has led France to ban visas and halt
development aid for all three countries.
Abdul-Malak's remarks appeared intended to defuse a
confrontation with the union of artistic and cultural businesses
SYNDEAC, which had demanded to meet with her after her ministry
issued a directive to halt all cooperation and financial support
to institutions from the three countries.
SYNDEAC had called the ban "completely unprecedented".
"This total ban on three countries experiencing very serious
crises makes no sense from an artistic point of view and is a
major mistake from a political point of view", the union said in
a statement.
Following the outcry, Abdul-Malak said she had asked her
ministry to send out "clarifications" to the entertainment
businesses, adding that existing partnerships would not be
affected by the ban, only new projects that would require travel
visas for artists.
France is home to a large community of people with ties to the
three African countries and performers from the region, in
particular musicians, are popular at festivals.
(Reporting by Jean-Stephane Brosse and Tassilo Hummel; Editing
by Benoit Van Overstraeten and Miral Fahmy)
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