Annalena Baerbock starts a two-day visit to the crisis country Mali

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock starts her two-day visit to the Sahel state of Mali on Tuesday. In talks with the military government, representatives of civil society and the Bundeswehr, Baerbock wants to get an idea of ​​the current situation, which is characterized by increasing extremist violence and great poverty. The results of the talks are to be incorporated into the Federal Government’s forthcoming decision as to whether – and in what form – the Bundeswehr should remain in Mali.

Mali engages in military cooperation with Russia

At the start of the trip, Baerbock made clear her dissatisfaction with the military junta in Bamako. Germany can only continue its commitment if the “framework conditions” are right – and in this respect the government “has lost a lot of trust internationally in recent months – not least by delaying the democratic transition and by intensifying military cooperation with Moscow,” said Baerbock .

The Federal Foreign Minister listed a number of requirements for Mali if the Bundeswehr is to remain in place: she named “reliability in cooperation as well as a determined fight against terror and violence and compliance with fundamental principles of the rule of law”. Since the behavior of Mali’s government raises questions in this regard, Germany must “question” its commitment.

Bundeswehr involved in two missions in Mali

The Bundeswehr is currently involved with around 1,300 soldiers in two international military operations in Mali – the missions are currently the largest and most dangerous operation of the German armed forces. As part of the EU-led training mission EUTM, around 300 German soldiers are training members of the Malian army. Shortly before Baerbock’s departure, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced that the military training mission would be drastically reduced.

Another 1,000 Bundeswehr soldiers are currently supporting the UN peacekeeping mission Minusma, which aims to stabilize the country and protect the civilian population. The future of this mission is also in question because France wants to withdraw its soldiers. The withdrawal leaves a gap in the UN’s military capabilities that is difficult to fill.

According to Western governments, the Malian military junta is working with mercenaries from the Russian group Wagner, which is said to have ties to the Kremlin. Human rights groups suspect that the Russian forces, together with Malian soldiers, committed a massacre of civilians in the village of Moura two weeks ago – the group Human Rights Watch speaks of around 300 civilians killed.

Annalena Baerbock continues to travel to Niger

After the visit to Mali, Baerbock wants to travel on to the neighboring Republic of Niger. In addition to talks with government representatives, talks with representatives of civil society are on the agenda in both countries, and the minister also wants to visit stabilization and development projects.

According to the information, the topics are the massively increasing food prices and the effects of climate change in the Sahel region. Mali and Niger are among the poorest and driest countries on earth.

Baerbock pointed out that the war in Ukraine is also having an impact on the poor countries of the Sahel region, after all the Ukraine has acted as a “granary” supplying the whole world with grain. “Millions of people are being thrown into famine – mostly in countries that are already struggling with political instability, the consequences of the climate crisis, terrorism and other challenges,” said the minister. “The Sahel region is a sad example of this.”