The Bundeswehr wants to have withdrawn its remaining soldiers from Mali in a few days. The consequences are difficult to estimate; the security situation in the civil war country remains tense.
February 2013. French President François Hollande conquers the hearts of Malians in Timbuktu. The legendary desert city had just been liberated from the hands of radical Islamists.
French troops had barely pushed back an alliance of Islamist militias in Mali and prevented them from storming the capital Bamako when the first German soldiers arrived. They were supposed to turn what was called Mali’s army on paper into a combat-ready force as part of an EU mission.
But first, a German officer in Bamako explained at the time, basic equipment for pioneer training had to be brought in. “A large part of the equipment was provided by the Malian army itself – a smaller part by Germany. This mainly involves shovels, spades and saws,” he listed.
From Transport flights for military use
That was the beginning of the EU training mission EUTM (European Union Training Mission) in Mali. France had asked its European partners, especially Germany, for military help. But it is not about participation in combat operations, as the then Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen emphasized during a visit to the troops in 2014.
“No, the mandate does not cover that,” said the CDU politician at the time. “This is purely a training mission and does not include, for example, mentoring, which would mean accompanying you on a combat mission, for example, that is excluded here.”
What began with transport flights led only a little later to a United Nations stabilization mission called MINUSMA (United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali). With more than 17,000 blue helmets, it was the UN’s largest military operation – and also the most dangerous. More than 300 members of MINUSMA have died since 2013, including two Germans.
July 5, 2019: A MINUSMA soldier from the Senegalese Battalion patrols the destroyed village of Sadia Peulh.
“Since the Russians came here, we’ve seen results”
In the end, Germany was involved in MINUSMA with up to 1,100 soldiers. They performed so-called higher-value tasks: education, communication or medical support. But after two military coups, the junta in Bamako believes that it can keep radical Islamists, separatists and criminal gangs in the country at bay with military aid from Moscow and Russian mercenaries.
The EU therefore withdrew its training mission. The withdrawal of the UN peacekeepers will soon be completed and the last German soldier will have left the country in a few days. Fady Valette Mohamedoun, spokeswoman for a women’s cooperative in Timbuktu, northern Malia, welcomes this development.
“In my view, the security situation and the economy have improved since MINUSMA, the French and the Germans withdrew,” said Mohamedoun. She reads her opinion from the paper, but Mohamedoun’s opinion corresponds to that of many Malians in the long-contested Timbuktu, such as that of the fabric dealer Cisse Mahamane. “Since the Russians came here, we’re finally seeing results,” he says.
Constant threat, especially in the north
The army has just recaptured the strategically important city of Kidal in the north. The siege of Timbuktu by insurgents, which has been ongoing since August, appears to have been abandoned for the time being. The first trucks from Algeria were recently able to reach the city again, a good 20 hours’ drive north of Bamako. And Russia is now promising more than just military aid to get Mali, one of the poorest states in the world, back on its feet economically. Even nuclear energy is being discussed.
But despite the supposed progress, the security situation in the country, which is three times the size of Germany, remains extremely tense. Whether Islamic State or Al-Qaeda, Tuareg separatists or local militias – the population, especially in the north of the country, is exposed to a constant threat, says analyst and university lecturer Amadou Samake in Bamako. “Since MINUSMA announced its withdrawal, attacks in the north have multiplied, along with the siege of Timbuktu.”
Uncertainty “far too great for meaningful projects”
Given this background, does it still make sense to provide development aid? The federal government has just promised Mali 36.5 million euros for projects. Good governance, agriculture and water supply are among what has been agreed with the military government in Bamako. However, a spokesman for the Development Ministry in Berlin said on request that we are now working less with the government than with municipalities and directly with the population.
Ulf Laessing, the Sahel representative of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, who knows the region very well, believes that this is not very realistic. “The vacuum left by the troop withdrawals will be partly filled by the Malian army, but also by rebels and jihadists.” The Malian army “cannot really control” northern Mali, said Laessing. The uncertainty is “far too great for meaningful projects”. There is more and more humanitarian work being done, “but hardly any long-term agricultural projects or anything like that. How can you do that when the Islamic State is constantly burning down the fields?”
World hunger Help wants to adapt to the situation
The regional director for West and Central Africa of the German Welthungerhilfe, Mahamadou Issoufou-Wasmeier, says, however, that the consequences of the withdrawal of the UN mission and also the German soldiers for development cooperation cannot yet be estimated.
“We currently don’t know what the impact of this deduction will be on our work,” said Issoufou-Wasmeier. In the past and now it was possible to work in Mali. “We as Welthungerhilfe cannot make any connection between the withdrawal of MINUSMA and a deterioration in the security situation.” The regional director says we will adapt to the situation.
In Mali, more than 200 employees work on 17 projects for Welthungerhilfe. Almost every third Malian relies on support to survive, and millions of people are affected, says Issoufou-Wasmeier. This is also a consequence of the poor security situation and not just the lack of rain. If it becomes dangerous, people will no longer be able to cultivate their fields.
Stefan Ehlert, ARD Rabat, tagesschau, December 11th, 2023 1:00 p.m