Germany is temporarily suspending the Bundeswehr’s mission in the crisis-stricken West African country of Mali due to disagreements with the local government. German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht justified today’s decision by saying that Mali’s military government has again denied overflight rights for the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSMA. In principle, Germany is still willing to participate in the international peace mission.
As overflight rights were denied, “we must act and halt operations by our reconnaissance forces and transport flights with the CH-53 until further notice,” Lambrecht explained. The behavior of the military government in Bamako is making it difficult for the German armed forces to be used as part of the UN mission, the Defense Ministry said. “A planned personnel change is therefore not possible,” he said. “This has an impact on our commitment, because the safety of our soldiers has the highest priority.”
In principle, Germany is still willing to participate in the mission. However, this only makes sense if supported by the local government, said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit.
Mali collaborates with Wagner Group
The UN peacekeeping mission MINUSMA has been in Mali since 2013, and the UN Security Council only extended its mandate for another year at the end of June. Mali, with around 20 million people, has seen three military coups since 2012 and is considered extremely politically unstable. In recent months, the military junta in Mali has increasingly worsened the conditions for a military operation. Tensions also increased over the military junta’s cooperation with the Russian mercenary group Wagner, which is said to have close ties to the Kremlin and is suspected of committing massive human rights violations. France has already withdrawn most of its soldiers.
The Austrian Armed Forces are involved with two soldiers from the MINUSMA force in Mali. There are also 23 army soldiers who are part of the EU EUTM training mission for the Malian army.