After ten years, the German armed forces are suspending their deployment in Mali. The West African country remains unstable. Because of repeated denial of overflight rights, Germany is now moving.
Germany is suspending the Bundeswehr mission in West African Mali for the time being. The Federal Ministry of Defense announced on Friday in Berlin that transport flights and reconnaissance operations would be suspended until further notice. The Malian government had repeatedly denied the Bundeswehr overflight rights, it said in justification. The on-site staff should be rotated with the flight.
In principle, Germany is still willing to take part in the international peace mission, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit assured. However, that only makes sense if it is supported by the government there.
Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht sharply criticized her Malian counterpart Sadio Camara. “Camara’s actions speak a different language than his words,” complained the SPD politician. The behavior of the military government in Bamako is hindering the use of the Bundeswehr as part of the UN mission, the Federal Ministry of Defense said. “A planned change of personnel is therefore not possible,” it said. “This has an impact on our commitment, because the safety of our soldiers has the highest priority.”
Lambrecht irritated by the behavior of the Malian counterpart
Just at the beginning of the week, the head of the political department of the Federal Foreign Office for Africa, Latin America, the Near and Middle East, Christian Buck, traveled to Mali for negotiations. It was then said that the Malian side had signaled that the rotation of troops could be resumed in the near future.
Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) is said to have only received corresponding assurances in a telephone call to her Malian counterpart Sadio Camara on Thursday. She was personally irritated by the behavior of Malian Defense Minister Sadio Camara. “Camara’s actions speak a different language than his words,” criticized Lambrecht on Twitter.
Work of the Bundeswehr in Mali repeatedly impaired
Mali, with around 20 million inhabitants, has experienced three military coups since 2012 and is considered to be extremely unstable politically. Since the most recent coup in May 2021, the country has been led by an interim military government tasked with maintaining close ties with Russia. Since then, the deployment of the UN peacekeeping force Minusma, in which the Bundeswehr is also involved, has been repeatedly impaired.
The UN peacekeeping mission Minusma has been in Mali since 2013, and the UN Security Council only extended its mandate by a further year at the end of June. For the Bundeswehr, the mission is currently the largest foreign mission – and is also considered its most dangerous. In recent months, the military junta in Mali has increasingly worsened the conditions for a military operation.
Tensions also increased due to the military junta’s cooperation with the Russian mercenary group Wagner, which is said to have close ties to the Kremlin and is suspected of committing massive human rights violations. France has already withdrawn a large part of its soldiers.
In May, the Bundestag extended the Bundeswehr’s deployment in the Sahel country, which is affected by violent extremism – albeit with one caveat: the new mandate contains a withdrawal clause in the event that the safety of Bundeswehr soldiers in Mali can no longer be guaranteed.
Source: Stern
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