(Berlin) German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock ruled on Wednesday that the military commitment of Europeans in Mali, where the ruling junta has just expelled the French ambassador, should be reassessed.
Posted at 11:51 a.m.
“In view of the latest measures taken by the Malian government, we must honestly ask ourselves if the conditions for the success of our common commitment are still met. Our commitment is not an end in itself,” said Mr.me Baerbock in a daily interview Suddeutsche Zeitung.
“We are in close consultation with our international partners and the European Union, particularly France, on how we will continue our commitment on the ground,” she said.
“We will also be taking up these overarching issues with the Malian government in the coming days,” she added.
A spokesperson for her ministry said at a regular press conference in Berlin that State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Katja Keul would travel to Mali on Thursday to meet “German soldiers, government and civil society “.
Mme Baerbock was reacting to the escalation of tensions in recent weeks between Mali and France, its former colonial power.
The Malian authorities, dominated by the military who seized power in August 2020, decided on Monday to expel the French ambassador.
In response, Paris has announced that it wants to discuss within two weeks with its European partners the future of the European military presence in this country. France has been engaged there since 2013, in particular with the Barkhane force, to fight against jihadism.
The commitment in Mali is guided by long-term objectives, however assured the German minister, for whom it is a question of ensuring “the security of people, the stability and the development of the country”.
However, the objectives of the intervention of the Bundeswehr, the German army, in particular “stabilization and pacification” in the Sahel, are currently “only very partially achievable”, said a spokesman for the German Ministry of Defense Wednesday. According to him, the recent tensions with Bamako make the intervention of European forces “more and more difficult”.
The German army is currently engaged in Mali through two missions: 328 soldiers are participating in the European Union Training Mission in Mali (EUTM), and 1,170 soldiers in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali ( MINUSMA).
In May, the Bundestag must decide whether or not the German army will continue these two missions.
German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht ruled out on January 22 a withdrawal of Bundeswehr soldiers deployed in Mali. She had assured that it was not necessary to leave room for the mercenaries of the sulphurous Russian paramilitary company Wagner, accused by Paris of being in Mali to “support” the junta.