Mali: civilian machine for Bundeswehr rotation | tagesschau.de

The military government in Mali had blocked the personnel change in the blue helmet mission in the country for a long time. This complicated the deployment and also affects German military machines. Now a charter plane is in use.

It took a while, but now the personnel change in the German troops in Mali is getting going again – at least for the time being: since mid-July the military junta there had suspended the flights necessary for contingent changes at the UN mission called MINUSMA. Therefore, soldiers of the Bundeswehr had to wait longer than planned for their relief on site. In the morning, a civilian plane left Cologne for the West African crisis state.

About 90 German soldiers were also on board, according to the Operations Command. It is planned that the civilian plane will also take members of the Bundeswehr to Germany on the way back.

Reinforcement for security in Gao

The approval for the flight by the authorities in Mali seems to temporarily defuse the dispute with the United Nations and Germany over overflight rights. It’s not completely cleared out yet.

Among other things, the Bundeswehr is still waiting to be allowed to fly in urgently needed reinforcements to secure the airport in Gao in northern Mali: “When the German infantry forces will be deployed is currently being coordinated with the MINUSMA leadership,” said a Spokesman for the operational command ARD Capital Studio. The focus today is on the exchange of the currently waiting staff.

New approval process

Because of the disagreements with the regime in Mali, Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht initially suspended the German mission last week.

In the meantime, the UN mission MINUSMA has agreed with the Malian authorities on a new approval procedure for the rotation of troop units. But when this really gets going is unclear.

In addition, reports caused a stir that new Russian security forces had been sighted at Gao Airport and thus also in the vicinity of the camp, where the Bundeswehr is also stationed. The junta in Mali has been relying on support from Moscow for some time, which has caused fierce criticism from Western troop providers.