The European Union has placed €18 million in development aid to Sierra Leone under review, citing concerns over drug trafficking and the government’s handling of an extradition request for a Dutch fugitive wanted on cocaine trafficking charges.

The European Commission confirmed this week that disbursement of the funds, originally planned for 2026 under the EU’s Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI), is “currently under assessment” and that “no disbursement is currently planned.” Sierra Leone had been allocated €352 million under the NDICI framework for 2021-2027, with €245 million already committed and roughly €24.5 million disbursed between 2024 and 2025.

“We are concerned about the drug trafficking and, broader speaking, transnational organised crime trends in Sierra Leone and the region,” the Commission said in a statement, adding that ongoing development programmes that directly benefit the population will continue to be funded through external implementing partners rather than through government channels.

The freeze follows mounting pressure from the Netherlands over Sierra Leone’s refusal to extradite Joseph “Jos” Leijdekkers, known as “Bolle Jos,” a Dutch national convicted in absentia in the Netherlands and Belgium on charges including large-scale cocaine trafficking, assault, armed robbery and attempted murder, with combined sentences exceeding 80 years. Dutch authorities say Leijdekkers has been operating from Sierra Leone.

Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel welcomed the EU’s move, telling broadcaster NOS that Sierra Leone “can resolve this within 24 hours by arresting and extraditing this man.” In earlier remarks, van Weel said it was “deeply galling that European Union funds are going to a country that refuses to cooperate with the extradition” of the fugitive.

EU Commissioner Magnus Brunner offered a more cautious framing, attributing the suspension to “technical reasons” rather than the Leijdekkers case specifically, while still acknowledging the bloc’s broader worries about organised crime in the country. The matter was also raised directly between EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Sierra Leone’s foreign minister on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last month.

Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Information and Civic Education has pushed back on that characterization, telling local media that EU representatives cited “procedural issues” behind the delayed support, with new disbursements instead proposed for the 2027-2028 cycle. Leijdekkers’ lawyer, Guy Weski, has denied his client’s involvement in large-scale cocaine operations run out of Sierra Leone.

Not everyone sees the funding freeze as the right response. Sierra Leonean human rights activist Abdul M. Fatoma warned that cutting aid risks punishing ordinary citizens for a dispute that is fundamentally about one individual, rather than addressing the underlying justice and extradition concerns directly.

The dispute places Sierra Leone’s government in an uncomfortable position just as it works to shore up its 2027 fiscal plans amid separate economic pressures, including a recent spike in global oil prices. With the EU signalling that the 2026 tranche remains unresolved and a further €20.5 million in 2027 funding also at stake, how Freetown responds to the extradition request in the coming weeks is likely to shape the relationship going forward.

Sources: Premier Media (premiermedia-sl.com), OCCRP, NL Times, Dutch News