Cooperation: Germany leaves MINUSMA but will maintain its aid to Mali

Published on 15.04.2023 at 2:31 p.m. by Journal du Mali

With some 1,400 soldiers, Germany is the European Union’s largest contributor to MINUSMA. But since the arrival of the Russians in Mali, Berlin considers that the conditions are no longer met to continue to participate in MINUSMA. On a visit to Bamako on Thursday and yesterday Friday, his Minister of Defense nevertheless affirms that Germany does not want to slam the door. « The President of the Transition said that not only did he greatly appreciate Germany’s commitment here, but also the way in which this commitment took place in the country, that is to say on an equal footing and between partners. This confirms us in our work, in our cooperation and we will continue this cooperation with the country,” assured German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. Counted on nine to twelve months for the withdrawal of his soldiers from MINUSMA, the Minister specifies that with Mali, the bridges are not entirely broken in the military field, but also in development aid. “You know that we will withdraw our armed forces from MINUSMA next year. We talked about the reasons for this withdrawal, but anyway, cooperation, we want to continue it in another form. We are thinking about military training and we will always have military advisers on site, and we want to continue our exchange,” he added.