military junta gives French ambassador 72 hours to leave the country

Can French soldiers stay in Mali? The question arises openly with the decision of the Malian authorities to expel the French ambassador, as they announced on Monday January 31. Joël Meyer therefore has 72 hours to leave the territory. The military junta, which took power in 2020, justifies this unprecedented decision by the remarks deemed hostile, made against it, by Jean-Yves Le Drian, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“It is the colonels who have taken power and who have made a double coup since August 2020, which is illegitimate and which refuses universal suffrage, which refuses democratic verification”, said the minister on January 28, on RTL. A hostile Malian power, an anti-French feeling that is spreading… The soldiers engaged in Mali are less and less welcome. Operation Barkhane has already reduced the sails. There are only two bases left in Mali, Menaka and especially Gao. Fewer than 5,000 soldiers are stationed there, and only half should be left in a year. A Defense Council will meet on Tuesday 1 February.