Germany hopes to clarify the situation of its deployment in Mali after the summer

BERLIN, July 23. (DPA/EP) –

The German Defense Minister, Christine Lambrecht, expects to receive clarifications in September about the conditions for the deployment of the country’s Army in Mali because, in her opinion, there are no guarantees that the current military junta that governs the country will accept the presence of its military .

“The Malian rulers must explain if they want to continue cooperating with the international community in the fight against terrorism, if we are welcome. I currently have my doubts about it,” Lambrecht said on Saturday.

Last week, Malian authorities prevented eight members of the German Armed Forces from boarding a civilian flight in an act Berlin called a “harassment” gesture.

The minister, in this sense, has considered it unacceptable that these “practices of harassment” make the work of her soldiers more difficult while waiting for the next rotation in September that will affect the majority of the soldiers stationed in Mali, as part of the mission UN peacekeeper, MINUSMA.

Ties between Berlin and Bamako have been strained since the military coup in Mali last year and the situation has deteriorated further in recent months as the Malian junta has made it known that it would not allow any personnel changes in the international forces. for now.

The Malian government, on the other hand, is demanding clarification on the relationship between the German government and 49 Ivorian soldiers arrested in Bamako on July 10, on charges of entering the country illegally, destabilizing the government in Mali and being mercenaries.

However, according to the German Defense Ministry, the forces have been deployed since 2019, with the knowledge and approval of Malian authorities, to protect a UN base at Bamako airport, which is also used by Germany.

The rope has also tightened in the face of the long transition process that awaits the country and the deployment of mercenaries from the Russian Wagner group, which has raised suspicions about Moscow’s involvement in several conflicts on the continent, starting with Mali.

On Sunday, the UN Assistant Secretary General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, leaves for a five-day trip to the African country to discuss the future of MINUSMA with the local government.