Foreign policy head Josep Borrell said on Wednesday that European Union military ministers will meet to evaluate the situation in Gabon, saying that a coup, if verified, would contribute to the region’s instability.

After the state electoral commission confirmed that President Ali Bongo had won a third term, a group of top Gabonese military soldiers emerged on national television in the early hours of Wednesday and said that they had taken power.

“If this is confirmed, it is yet another military coup that adds to the region’s instability,” said Borrell, addressing at a meeting of EU defense ministers in Toledo.

“The whole area, starting with Central African Republic, then Mali, then Burkina Faso, now Niger, maybe Gabon, it’s in a very difficult situation and certainly the ministers … have to have a deep thought on what is going on there and how we can improve our policy in respect with these countries,” he said.

“This is a big issue for Europe,” he added.

The signs of a coup in Gabon come just weeks after members of the presidential guard in Niger seized power and established a junta.