French President Emmanuel Macron will soon announce the departure of French troops from Mali. The announcement is expected on the sidelines of a European Union-African Union summit, Thursday and Friday in Brussels.
That’s what insiders say to the French news agency AFP. Macron will release news of the withdrawal Wednesday evening or Thursday, the sources said. Government spokesman Gabriel Attal had announced earlier today that the president would speak with ‘the heads of state of the partner countries’ in the Elysée on Wednesday evening about ‘our presence in the Sahel in the context of counter-terrorism, particularly in Mali’. Announcements “will then be made soon,” the spokesman added.
Maintaining the status quo is “not possible in a very deteriorated situation in Mali, with the seizure of power by a junta, the refusal to set a timetable for the return to democratic order – which had been announced – and the deployment of a Russian private militia,” Attal underlined at the end of the cabinet meeting. According to the insiders, Macron is therefore sending his troops to another place in the region.
Mali expelled the French ambassador in late January because it was outraged by “hostile” comments from top French officials. For example, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian had lashed out at the military regime, accusing him of ‘irresponsible’ behaviour. The diplomat’s expulsion sparked international criticism.
Germany and Denmark
Germany called the decision “unjustified”. Minister of Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock has serious doubts about further participation in the international UN peacekeeping mission (Minusma) in Mali. “Given the latest moves by the Malian government, we have to ask ourselves whether our joint efforts there can be successful,” she told the newspaper in early February. Süddeutsche Zeitung†
A week earlier, Denmark withdrew its troops from Mali after the military regime demanded it. The Danish departure underlined the problems of the international counter-terror operation against al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS), led by France. Germany announced that it would raise the issue at a high level with the Malian government.
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Netherlands and Belgium
The Netherlands is ‘very concerned’ about the developments in Mali, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in early February. A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said to “look at the French first” because of their major role in the UN mission. “If it is no longer feasible or safe, we will think carefully about the progress of the mission.” Both ministries did not want to pre-empt consultations with partner countries about the mission. They did emphasize that the Netherlands is ‘committed’ to Mali and considers stability in the country ‘of great importance’. “For that reason too, the cabinet wants to continue to talk to the Malian transition authorities,” said a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Netherlands returned to Mali in November 2021, having left the country in 2019 after a five-year mission. Defense is now supplying a Hercules transport plane with almost ninety soldiers as support personnel until May. The UN mission is now also commanded by a Dutchman, Kees Matthijssen. The Netherlands is also still active in the EU training mission in the country. In addition, three military staff officers work at Minusma’s headquarters in Bamako and three soldiers assist German soldiers in the city of Gao.
For the time being, Belgium will not send military personnel to Mali to support the international mission. Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder said on Tuesday that the conditions for Belgian participation have not been met. Belgium was supposed to send 250 troops this year to participate in the European Task Force Takuba, but that is not going ahead.
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Jihadists
Mali has been fighting an Islamist insurgency in the north since 2012, supported by terrorist organizations such as IS. In 2013, France intervened – at the request of Malian leaders – to stop jihadists who had already taken parts of the vast country. The operation was later expanded to other countries in an effort to stabilize the wider Sahel region, which includes Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mauritania.
Relations between Malian leaders and European countries have soured in recent times. Soldiers staged a coup in the country in 2020. They later reportedly called on the Russian mercenary army Wagner. That didn’t go down well in European capitals.
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