West Africa
Mali: Bundeswehr Inspector General sees intolerable condition
Eberhard Zorn is the Inspector General of the German Armed Forces. Photo: Jörg Carstensen/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Developments in the direction of “worst-case scenarios” have taken place in foreign missions as well as in alliance defense. Germany’s highest-ranking soldier sees great challenges.
The Inspector General of the German Armed Forces, Eberhard Zorn, sees growing military and political dangers in the largest foreign mission in West African Mali.
“We have a government there that we don’t see as democratically legitimate. The fact that they don’t want to hold elections for five years is an intolerable situation for us. There can be no such thing as “keep it up,” said Zorn – Germany’s highest-ranking soldier – of the German Press Agency in Berlin.
The Bundeswehr is involved in the country with a total of around 1,400 men and women in the EU training mission EUTM and the UN mission Minusma. Recently, tensions had increased, especially between the military junta and the former colonial power France. The French ambassador has been expelled – as have Danish special forces. There had already been a dispute about the presence of Russian mercenaries in Mali.
The situation has also become more complicated in an overall view of the region. “If we broaden the focus beyond Mali to the Sahel region as a whole, we now see a coup in Burkina Faso and an attempted coup in Guinea-Bissau. That doesn’t make the military situation any easier,” said Zorn. “These countries are in difficult political waters. Niger is currently the anchor we are counting on in the region.”
The overall security situation in Mali has deteriorated. The training of the Malian armed forces is progressing, but there is “a long way to go” before the entire Malian army will be fully trained. “The terrorist groups continue to spread. There is only a comparatively safe zone around the capital Bamako,” says Zorn.
“In purely military terms, I see parallels to Afghanistan in the methods and procedures of the terrorist groups. Attacks with booby traps (IED) and complex ambushes are also a reality in Africa,” said the Inspector General. “In addition, there is the use of modern technology. Drone and missile attacks are increasing significantly. This complex situation on the other side naturally challenges us accordingly.»
Big concerns about Ukraine conflict
Zorn rates the troop deployment of the Russian armed forces on the border with Ukraine and in Belarus, which continues unabated, as very worrying. “And we don’t know what President Putin’s intentions are with these troops,” Zorn said. The situation is being monitored “very closely” and there is constant exchange within NATO and the EU.
“We are observing that there have been parallel cyber attacks. Added to this are the intensified Russian naval maneuvers from the North Sea to the Mediterranean and in the Black Sea. Overall, a Russian troop concentration can be observed on land, at sea and in the air,” says Zorn. “Nevertheless, we do not yet see any clear preparations for a high-intensity conventional attack.” However, the current Russian concentration of forces is unprecedented in recent years. “Our NATO partners in the Baltic States, in Poland and as far south as south-eastern Europe are all very concerned.”
The most important thing is that we now talk to each other intensively. “Every opportunity for diplomatic negotiations with the Russian side must be used. Mutual talks, whether bilateral or in committees, are the be-all and end-all to ease this dangerous situation,” said Zorn.
In terms of security policy, the developments that had been assumed to be the worst case in earlier considerations have now repeatedly occurred. “We are currently experiencing everything in reality that we outlined as assumptions a few years ago when developing worst-case scenarios,” says Zorn. With the corona pandemic, additional tasks have been added beyond the core military mission.
It becomes clear that the armed forces must be able to act more quickly. “The time to prepare for new situations is not as long as it was a few years ago. We don’t have a 180-day lead time,” said Zorn. So far, however, the Bundeswehr has primarily been “planned to be ready for action”. “This means that we are fulfilling all of our commitments to NATO that we have been preparing for years,” said Zorn. “But now we are in a situation where we can still be asked for additional troops. We have to adapt to that, and our troops have to have a “cold start capability”.