After France's withdrawal, EU studies chances of staying in Mali
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After France and its partners officially withdrew from Mali, the European Union FM Josep Borrell is sending a mission to Mali to check the possibility of keeping the training missions carried out by the Union there.
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After France's withdrawal, the EU studies chances of staying in Mali.
European Union Foreign Minister Josep Borrell announced today, Thursday, that the European Union will check whether conditions and guarantees are in place to maintain its training missions in Mali, after the military withdrawal of France and its partners from the country.
“Certainly they won’t leave Mali,” Borrell said on France Inter about the Takuba Task Force, a European multinational band of special operations forces. He added, “We’re not going to leave Mali but we can’t stay in a country if the authorities don’t want it.”
Avec @eucopresident, nous avons rencontré le Président du #Niger @mohamedbazoum. L’UE reste engagée au Sahel et réadaptera son dispositif militaire en fonction de la situation au #Mali. Notre détermination à lutter contre le terrorisme reste intacte. #AUEU @PresidenceNiger pic.twitter.com/rIvSrvuLQG
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) February 17, 2022
France, along with its European partners, announced earlier today its withdrawal from Mali, stressing that it remains committed to the countries of the Sahel region and the Gulf of Guinea.
A decade of international involvement in #Mali 🇲🇱 ends in failure. The country is ruled by a junta, jihadis are still active and intercommunal violence leads to dozens of deaths on a regular basis. https://t.co/olxPagWHOv
— Thomas van Linge (@ThomasVLinge) February 17, 2022
On her part, Germany's Defense Minister, Christine Lambrecht, said she was skeptical about whether a European Union training mission in Mali could continue and that a UN peacekeeping mission would have to be reviewed after France said it would begin a military exit.
"I have to say that I am very skeptical about whether the EUTM mandate will be extended," Christine Lambrecht told reporters on arrival for a meeting of NATO alliance defense ministers in Brussels.
It is noteworthy that the German army is currently participating in the deployment in Mali through two operations: 328 soldiers participating in the European Union Training Mission in Mali, and 1,170 soldiers in the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Mali.
