West Africa: Berlin for an orderly withdrawal from Mali

West Africa
Berlin for an orderly withdrawal from Mali

Despite new demands from the military junta in Mali, the federal government is sticking to the orderly withdrawal of German peacekeepers from the West African crisis state. The Ministry of Defense referred on Saturday to ongoing negotiations about the future of the UN peacekeeping mission. The junta, which came to power in a coup, had previously demanded the “immediate” withdrawal of all UN blue helmets.

The UN mission Minusma, which currently has around 12,000 blue helmet soldiers from various countries, has existed since 2013. The Bundeswehr is still involved with around 1,100 soldiers. According to a decision by the Bundestag, the German mission should be over in just under a year.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defense said in Berlin about the demands of the military junta: “We are not surprised that the Malian transitional government and Russia will use the forthcoming extension of the UN mandate to make political capital out of it. We are still interested in an orderly withdrawal.” According to current plans, Germany wants to withdraw its soldiers by May 31, 2024. The first steps are already under way.

Military junta: UN operation makes no sense

Mali’s military junta under Colonel Assimi Goïta justified the demand for the immediate withdrawal of all UN blue helmets with the fact that the mission no longer made any sense. “It is impossible to keep the peace in a situation where there is no peace to keep,” said a statement released in the capital, Bamako. The UN mission reversed its mandate to support the Malian authorities.

Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop accused the blue helmets of having become “part of the problem” during an appearance at the UN headquarters in New York on Friday (local time). “Against this background, the Malian government is calling for the immediate withdrawal of Minusma. However, the government is ready to work with the United Nations in this regard.” For peace missions, the UN is dependent on the consent of the respective country. The Mali mandate would have to be extended by the UN Security Council until June 30th.

Russian mercenary group Wagner on site

The UN mission has been active in the country on the edge of the Sahara desert for a decade after Islamist terrorists overran the north in the wake of the crisis in neighboring Libya and a rebellion by nomadic Tuareg in 2012. The former colonial power France pushed back the Islamists, some of whom were allied with the terrorist militias IS and al-Qaeda, only temporarily. After two military coups in 2020/21, Mali is now seeking cooperation with Russia. The Russian mercenary force Wagner has about 2000 men there.

The security situation has not improved since the government changed course. Experts observe that tougher action gives the Islamists more support. The Germans are mainly deployed near the city of Gao in the northeast, where there are also refugee camps with tens of thousands of people. Mali is considered the most dangerous UN peacekeeping mission. Around 170 blue helmets have died since 2013.

In Berlin, the Ministry of Defense had wanted to speed up negotiations within the government about the further course. The Foreign Office reportedly argued against withdrawing from the UN mission. At the end of May, the Bundestag extended the mandate for participation in Minusma for the last time, but also decided on a withdrawal mandate. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) was in Mali in mid-April. The military rulers assured cooperation in the withdrawal of the German blue helmets.

A UN report published in mid-May found that hundreds of people were killed in Mali last year when local soldiers and foreign aid workers were deployed. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, presented the results of a several-month investigation into Islamists in the village of Moura in the Mopti region. According to other sources, Malian forces and Russians were deployed there.

dpa