Germany raises doubts about EU Mali mission

BERLIN — European nations must reevaluate their anti-terrorist duties in Mali in light of growing tensions with the ruling junta, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Wednesday.

As several European countries raised doubts about the future of the mission, Baerbock said the time had come for a hard look at what the troops could achieve.

“Given the most recent steps by the Malian government we must honestly ask ourselves whether the conditions for the success of our shared commitment are still there,” she told the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

Mali’s junta told French ambassador Joel Meyer on Monday to leave the country within 72 hours in the latest souring of ties between the France and its former colony, which has been racked by an Islamist insurgency.

Germany slammed the move on Tuesday as “unjustified”, and Paris said it would decide with EU partners by mid-February on the future of the anti-terrorist mission.

The expulsion comes amid growing alarm in France and its European allies at the junta’s reported decision to hire mercenaries from the Russian paramilitary group Wagner.

Germany has 1,500 soldiers in Mali as part of the United Nations’ MINUSMA peacekeeping mission and an EU mission to train Malian soldiers.

The Bundestag lower house of parliament is due to vote on the future participation in both missions in May.

Baerbock said Berlin was in “close consultation” with EU partners, “France in particular”, about future military engagement.

“We also will put our questions in the coming days to high-level representatives of the Malian government,” she added.

Baerbock said Germany remained committed to the goals of “security for the people and stability as well as development” in Mali.

However she said those aims could only be achieved with “reforms and a return to democracy” as agreed with West Africa’s regional bloc ECOWAS — the Economic Community of West African States.

A foreign ministry spokesman told reporters state minister Katja Keul will travel to Mali on Thursday to meet “German soldiers, representatives of the government and members of civil society”.

He underlined that the expulsion of France’s envoy had been a “step in the wrong direction”, a message the government had conveyed to Mali’s ambassador in Berlin on Tuesday.

A German defence ministry spokesman underlined that the goals of the engagement in Mali were “only partially attainable”, saying conditions for the troops were “increasingly difficult”, with “obstacles” put in place by Malian authorities.