Germany intends to withdraw its troops from Mali by May 2024, ending its commitment to the UN mission (Minusma), the government announced on Tuesday, whose decision increases uncertainty about the future of this device.
The German government will propose to the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, “to extend for the last time for one year, in May 2023, the mandate of the Bundeswehr in Mali so that this intervention ends in a structured way, after ten years.” “, spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said in a statement.
A contingent of up to 1,400 soldiers
This latest extension “takes particular account of the elections in Mali, scheduled for February 2024,” specifies the same source.
The decision was communicated after a meeting between the Foreign Ministry, the Defense and Foreign Relations Ministries, which was attended by Foreign Minister Olaf Scholz.
It occurs when the future of the UN mission, installed since 2013 to stabilize the country threatened with collapse under the jihadist impulse, is increasingly uncertain: six countries have decided in the space of a few months to stop or suspend the participation of their soldiers. .
“We will stay there beyond the date of the elections, but we will start to withdraw this summer (2023, editor’s note), according to a very orderly plan,” Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said Tuesday night during a meeting at a speech in Berlin. The Bundeswehr is a major contributor to Minusma with a contingent of up to 1,400 men.
“Such a retreat cannot be done in a few days or weeks,” Ms. Lambrecht added, underlining the need to organize this outing. “In May 2024 this mission will be completed,” insisted the minister.
political negotiations
A government source told AFP last week that the Germans would leave Mali by the end of 2023. But concessions on the timing of the withdrawal have sparked tensions within Germany’s ruling coalition, various media reported.
The defense minister, from the chancellor’s social democratic party, and the army have been pushing for months for a withdrawal, citing security risks for soldiers in a context where the Malian military junta prevents troops from carrying out their mission, according to the weekly Spiegel.
However, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock of the Greens opposed the withdrawal, saying the mission was necessary to protect the civilian population. The city of Gao, in eastern Mali, is home to the main camp of the German army.
Mission Impossible
The latter is mainly involved in reconnaissance operations. Bundeswehr reconnaissance flights have suffered several interruptions in recent months due to tensions with the Malian government or administrative problems.
The Defense Ministry said last week that Mali had not granted the required authorizations for its drones since October 11. The reconnaissance mission is currently “not possible,” Lambrecht said Tuesday.
Mali’s ruling military junta initially pushed back French troops who intervened via soldiers from the Barkhane force and left the country this summer, increasing pressure on UN peacekeepers.
Minusma, which has 12,460 blue helmets for 55 contributing countries, is the UN mission that has suffered the most losses in recent years: 281 deaths, including 181 in hostile acts.
After Sweden, El Salvador, Benin and Egypt, the United Kingdom and the Ivory Coast announced their departure last week, for different reasons.
Germany has repeatedly expressed concern about the presence in Mali of paramilitaries from the Russian private security group Wagner, including at Gao airport. Malian soldiers “fought often with Russian forces and there were probably human rights violations,” Lambrecht said Tuesday.
The defense minister stressed that the German army would become more involved in Niger, judging that it would be “irresponsible” to abandon the Sahel region.
Source: BFM TV
