The Government of Austria announced this Friday the existence of "encouraging news" about the eventual release of an Austrian citizen kidnapped in Niger in January 2025. These efforts are taking place in parallel to the "strong mobilization" of the Swiss authorities to achieve the release of a woman of Swiss nationality kidnapped in the same African country a few months later.
"There is encouraging news about the situation of the Austrian Eva G., kidnapped in Niger in January 2025," indicated a spokesperson for the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in statements made to Europa Press, before adding that the "complex and highly sensitive" process of release and handover "has not yet concluded successfully."
At the same time, a spokesperson for the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated to Europa Press that Bern "is aware of information regarding the release of the Swiss hostage kidnapped in Niger in April 2025," although he emphasized that verification tasks "are underway."
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is strongly mobilized, in collaboration with other federal authorities, to achieve the release of the victim of this kidnapping," he explained.
The messages from Vienna and Bern come after several local media reported that both hostages, the Austrian Eva Gretzmacher and the Swiss Claudia Abbt, would have been released. However, for now, there is no official confirmation and it is unknown where they might be.
Gretzmacher, 75 years old, was captured on January 11, 2025, in the city of Agadez. For her part, Abbt, 67 years old and born in Lebanon, was kidnapped on April 13 of that same year in this same locality. Both kidnappings were attributed to the jihadist group Islamic State in the Sahel, which claimed responsibility and subsequently demanded ransom payments.
Niger, governed by a military junta following the coup d'état of July 2023, faces — like other Sahel states such as Burkina Faso and Mali — a resurgence of violence perpetrated by the regional branches of Al Qaeda and Islamic State. This escalation has caused thousands of deaths and forced the displacement of millions of people over the past decade.