By Ishmael Sallieu Koroma
Freetown, Sierra Leone — The Government of Sierra Leone has pushed back against reports linking the postponement of the European Union’s 2026 budget-support disbursement to ongoing judicial cooperation discussions with the Netherlands, insisting that the delay arose from procedural and timing issues surrounding its financing agreement with the European Commission.
In a statement issued on October 1 by the Ministry of Information and Civic Education, the government said the European Commission had formally communicated its decision on the 2026 disbursement as far back as July.
According to the government, the reasons communicated by the Commission related to the timing of Sierra Leone’s request for an amendment to the Financing Agreement and the resulting difficulty of completing the necessary processes within the 2026 reporting cycle.
The Commission consequently proposed moving the planned 2026 and 2027 disbursements to 2027 and 2028 respectively, the government said, adding that targets for the 2027 disbursement had already been agreed.
The clarification comes amid sharply differing accounts of why the funding was held back.
Reuters reported on October 1 that Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel said the European Commission had suspended €18 million in payments to Sierra Leone because of the country’s handling of the case of Dutch national Jos Leijdekkers, a convicted cocaine trafficker wanted by the Netherlands. Van Weel presented the measure as pressure on Sierra Leone to cooperate in efforts to arrest and extradite Leijdekkers.
However, the Sierra Leonean government rejected that interpretation, saying EU representatives had made clear in subsequent discussions that the decision concerning the 2026 disbursement was not taken because of discussions involving any particular individual.
The government’s position also received some support from comments by European Commissioner for Internal Affairs Magnus Brunner, who said in Luxembourg on October 1 that the suspension of EU budget support was due to “technical reasons,” although he did not provide further details because the matter did not fall within his portfolio.
At an earlier European Commission midday briefing on October 1, Commission officials declined to immediately confirm the account that budget support had been stopped because of the judicial dispute, saying they did not want to prejudge discussions taking place that day.
Government Acknowledges Setback
While disputing the reported reason for the decision, Freetown acknowledged that the postponement of the funds would have consequences.
“The postponement of this year’s disbursement is a setback,” the government said, while stressing that it did not amount to a suspension of the wider partnership between Sierra Leone and the European Union.
The government said Sierra Leone continued to value its longstanding relationship with the EU and remained committed to constructive engagement.
The conflicting explanations have placed renewed attention on Sierra Leone’s judicial cooperation with the Netherlands. Leijdekkers has been convicted in absentia in the Netherlands on serious drug-trafficking charges and is wanted by Dutch authorities. Dutch officials have been pressing Sierra Leone for cooperation in the case.
Sierra Leone’s government, however, maintained that reports portraying the EU’s July funding decision as a new punitive measure tied to a particular individual or judicial case did not reflect the reasons formally communicated to it.
Sierra Leone Reaffirms Commitment to Fighting Organized Crime
Beyond the dispute over the EU funding, the government reaffirmed its commitment to international cooperation against transnational organized crime and said it would continue working with international partners on judicial matters in accordance with Sierra Leonean law and established legal processes.
At the same time, Freetown cautioned against what it described as attempts to use development cooperation or public pressure to influence judicial matters.
The government argued that such issues should be addressed through lawful processes, mutual respect and sustained engagement between the relevant authorities.
Despite the controversy, Sierra Leone said it remained confident in the strength of its relationship with the European Union and was looking ahead to continued discussions surrounding the 2027 disbursement and the broader EU-Sierra Leone cooperation programme.
For now, the controversy has produced two competing narratives: Sierra Leone says the 2026 disbursement was postponed because of procedural timing surrounding an amendment to its Financing Agreement, while the Dutch justice minister has publicly linked the withholding of funds to the Leijdekkers case. The European Commission’s public comments on October 1 pointed to technical reasons but stopped short of providing a detailed explanation resolving the competing accounts.
