For the strategists from the EU, it is a déjà vu. Are Russian mercenaries after Syria and Libya now also appearing in Mali, West Africa? Germany and France are threatening consequences.
The German government is concerned that the military junta in Mali, West Africa, may collaborate with mercenaries from the Russian military company Wagner.
“Should the cooperation of Mali with Russian mercenary groups be confirmed, that would call into question the basis of the Bundeswehr’s mandate for Minusma and EUTM and we would have to draw conclusions together with the Bundestag,” warned Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU) with a view to the two ongoing missions of a total of around 1200 Bundeswehr soldiers in the country.
Similar warnings had previously been issued from France, which has troops in Mali and the neighboring Sahel states also in combat against Islamist militias.
Bundeswehr soldiers are part of the UN force Minusma. This is trying to stabilize, after Northern Mali was temporarily in the hands of Islamist and other rebel groups in 2012 – until France intervened robustly militarily. In addition, the Bundeswehr provides men and women for the EUTM military training mission. The aim of the mission, which has been running since 2013, is to support the armed forces in the region with advice and training so that they can counter threats from Islamist terror groups.
According to France24, it is about 1000 Wagner mercenaries and France could see that as a fault line. France had previously announced that it would close some military bases in the region.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on the media reports: “There are no representatives of the Russian army there,” he said, according to the Tass state agency. Moscow is also not conducting any official negotiations with the military leadership in Mali. But Russia is in contact with African countries, including through the military. The head of state Vladimir Putin had made a similar statement in the past when he was asked about the mercenary group “Wagner”.
But Russia wants to show more strength in Africa again, just as it did before the collapse of the Soviet Union. Just two years ago, Putin hosted a summit that was attended by representatives from more than 30 African countries.
The Wagner group is said to have fought in Syria, Libya, Ukraine, Mozambique and the Central African Republic. It is said to have had ties to the Kremlin. Peskov once said, referring to Russian legislation: “There are private security companies, but according to the law there are no private military companies.”
Acting in Africa has been observed in Berlin for some time. “I can say on behalf of the Foreign Office that we are aware of Russian talks with the Malian government and have also taken note of the latest media reports about possible bilateral military cooperation,” said a spokeswoman on Wednesday, describing the possibility as extremely worrying. “We are in an exchange with our European partners on this whole complex of issues, including France, of course.” The Malian leadership will now discuss the entire range of bilateral and multilateral cooperation between the country and the EU and third countries.
First – as military experts in Berlin expect – Paris, Berlin and their partners will try to put thumbscrews on the Malian leadership, which came to power with a military coup, and dissuade them from cooperating with Russia. A withdrawal from Mali is therefore not yet on the agenda. It would be another bitter defeat after Afghanistan.
However, after the failure in the Hindu Kush, the commitment in Mali is being put to the test anyway. In May of next year, the Bundestag would have to extend the two Mali mandates. For the future federal government it is the first defense policy challenge because the effectiveness of the engagement is in question – and anyway: which goals should be achieved by when? The disappointment is palpable. Kramp-Karrenbauer: “When Mali’s government makes such agreements with Russia, it contradicts everything that Germany, France, the EU and the UN have been doing in Mali for 8 years.”
The CDU member of the Bundestag Johann Wadephul said that Parliament had no information that fundamentally called the Mali operation into question. “Since we are there within the EU and because of UN resolutions, every new decision requires an international vote. The need to fight Islamist terror and to stabilize the states in the Sahel zone persists in any case, ”said Wadephul.
Foreign and security politicians in the Bundestag called on the government to involve parliament. The foreign policy spokesman for the Union faction, Jürgen Hardt, addressed the demand to the SPD-led foreign ministry. The defense experts from the Greens and the FDP, Tobias Lindner and Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, addressed them to Kramp-Karrenbauer (“Stuttgarter Zeitung” / “Stuttgarter Nachrichten” and ZDF).
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