On the grave political situation in Guinea-Bissau after the coup of 26 November

B100573/2025

European Parliament resolution on the grave political situation in Guinea-Bissau after the coup of 26 November

(2025/3027(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to Rule 150 (5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas on 26 November 2025, army generals suspended the electoral process and blocked the official declaration of the results of the closely contested presidential election of 23 November in Guinea-Bissau which incumbent President Umaro Embalo and opposition candidate, Fernando Dias, both claimed to have won;

B. whereas the coup only deepens the institutional backsliding that was already underway;

C. whereas Guinea-Bissau has had nine attempted coups and five successful ones since its independence in September 1973, demonstrating persistent structural governance failures;

D. whereas decades of democracy promotion efforts and development aid have failed because they did not address underlying structural factors;

E. whereas Guinea Bissau has become one of the largest transit zones for cocaine trafficking from South America to Europe;

F. whereas Guinea-Bissau is both a country of origin of illegal migration and a transit point for illegal migrants from other countries in West Africa; whereas according to the European Commission, the cooperation of Guinea-Bissau with EU countries on readmission of its citizens is inadequate with persistent delays in identification, documentation and actual returns;

1. Emphasises that instability deters foreign investment, disrupts trade and fuels insecurity; encourages the military transitional authority to start dialogue with the main political forces and economic elites to confront the multiple economic and social challenges;

2. Is concerned that Guinea-Bissau operates as a narco-state with systematic infiltration of drug trafficking organisations into political, military and security institutions; considers narco-state dynamics as the primary driver of Guinea-Bissau’s political crisis and instability; emphasises that cocaine flowing through Guinea Bissau directly threatens European societies, fuels organised crime across the EU and undermines European security;

3. Is worried that the continuing political and economic crisis in Guinea-Bissau, combined with the rapidly growing population, will continue to fuel illegal migration;

4. Calls on the EU to reach out to the authorities in Guinea Bissau and to elaborate a common approach that recognises the interests of each side, tackling illegal migration and drug trafficking;

5. Emphasises that further EU development aid and trade cooperation have to be made conditional on Guinea Bissau’s cooperation in the field of readmission of its citizens;

6. Notes that the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA) between the EU and Guinea Bissau leads to competition between EU and Bissau-Guinean vessels, problematic overfishing of Guinea Bissau’s EEZ and an unfair distribution of revenues, harming local citizens’ right to work and food as well as Guinea-Bissau’s development; emphasises that such policy contradicts both the EU’s claim of human rights champion and the aims of its development policy;

7. Calls on the African Union to engage pragmatically with Guinea Bissau;

8. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the European External Action Service, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the African Union and the National Transitional Council of Guinea Bissau.