Kramp-Karrenbauer on MINUSMA mission: Mali tweet angered the opposition

The fact that the military junta in Mali is apparently negotiating with Russian mercenaries is a problem for the German government. Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer questioned the mission via Twitter – the opposition reacted indignantly.

The Bundeswehr mission in Mali has been under closer scrutiny for a long time after the experience in Afghanistan – but the Federal Defense Minister had never before expressed any clearer doubts about its continuation: “If the cooperation between Mali and Russian mercenary groups is confirmed, this will lay the foundations of the Bundeswehr’s mandate (…) in question. ” These are the words of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.

“Single-handedly via Twitter”

But the fact that the minister was spreading such a meaningful message on Twitter annoys the opposition enormously: “I am really appalled: What Ms. Kramp-Karrenbauer is doing here is the announcement of a completely changed Sahel policy single-handedly on Twitter,” complains FDP parliamentary deputy Alexander Graf Lambsdorff in an interview with the ARD capital studio. “She ignored the Bundestag, duped the Foreign Office and embarrassed the Chancellor before her meeting with Emmanuel Macron that evening. That is dubious.”

Now the Foreign Office had already expressed its concern about possible cooperation between the Malian military government and Russian mercenaries – albeit not as clearly as the CDU defense minister linked this with the threat that “consequences” would have to be drawn in such a case . In any case, there is little to suggest that the Kramp-Karrenbauer tweet was coordinated between the defense and foreign ministries.

Authorities admit cooperation

The Greens are urging clarification immediately: “It is important that the Bundestag is first fully informed of the specific findings of the Federal Government and not just informed about any tweets from the Defense Minister,” demands the security policy spokesman for the Greens, Tobias Lindner, who in the Interview with the ARD capital studio adds: “It is clear that the government of Mali cannot on the one hand expect the EU to train its armed forces and at the same time seek cooperation with a Russian mercenary force.”

Authorities in Mali had already admitted that there are indeed talks about the use of Russian mercenaries from the group “Wagner”, which is considered close to the Kremlin. Obviously, there is still a long way to go from a firm agreement. The mercenaries are said to have already fought in Syria, Libya and Ukraine. It is no secret that they are also trying to expand their influence in Africa, and that they are already active in Central Africa. According to media reports, senior members of the military junta who seized power in Mali were trained in Russia.

“Warning shot” to the address of the military government

The defense policy spokesman for the Union parliamentary group, Henning Otte, sees Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer’s announcement as a “warning shot” at the address of the military government in Mali and at the same time spoke out on Germany radio against a withdrawal of the Bundeswehr: “It is not possible to go out now We are involved in a UN mission and the aim is to prevent terror from endangering us from there. “

The Bundeswehr is in Mali as part of the EU training mission EUTM and the UN mission MINUSMA with a total of around 1200 soldiers. If the talks between the military government and the Russian mercenaries really lead to something, the federal government would be faced with a dilemma: training the Malian army side by side with the Wagner group would be difficult to mediate. A withdrawal so soon after that in Afghanistan would inevitably be perceived as the failure of another military mission.