2023-04-17 16:10:11
Germany is giving itself 9 months to withdraw from MINUSMA, said its Defense Minister, Borris Pistorius, during the two-day visit to our country where he was received by the transitional authorities. This decision modifies Germany’s initial plan, which was to leave the UN mission in May 2024.
Visiting Mali on April 13 and 14, the German Minister of Defense met on Friday with Colonel Sadio Camara, Minister of Defense of Mali. During this meeting, the German minister notified his Malian counterpart of his country’s decision to withdraw from MINUSMA.
According to the Directorate of Information and Public Relations of the Armed Forces (DIRPA), this meeting was an opportunity for the two personalities to discuss, among other things, the withdrawal of the German Armed Forces from MINUSMA and the security situation in Mali for 10 years.
“We are going to withdraw our forces from MINUSMA, but this does not mean the end of cooperation as a whole. It is a chapter of cooperation that will be closed. We will present our withdrawal plan very soon, ”said Borris Pistorius when he left the hearing.
This decision by the leading economic power in the European Union is justified in particular by the difficulties linked to flying over Malian airspace. Consequence: they had not managed to do what they came to do.
“The ban on overflight of Malian airspace had seriously hampered the smooth running of operations. We really want to continue working to improve the security situation in the region. The situation is difficult, but we have frankness and clarity to be able to continue cooperation in the future,” maintained the German Defense Minister.
Germany will remain present in the region and will also remain a reliable partner,” said Borris Pistorius.
If Germany turns the page on its presence within MINUSMA, according to several sources, it will deploy to Niger where France is militarily installed there after leaving Mali.
“This region needs the cooperation of the European Union, the international community and Germany to ensure the stability that is lacking here and which must be restored and guaranteed,” he said.
“And that implies that we stay in contact, that we don’t slam the door, which we don’t do, quite the contrary,” he adds, before his meeting with the head of the transition, Colonel Assimi Goïta. .
If Borris Pistorius did not reveal the withdrawal plan to his Malian counterpart, he gave indications during his visit to Gao where the German contingent is deployed.
“We are not talking about moving a family of five with a truck. It is a military logistics operation that we do not arrange like that and which requires the next nine to twelve months depending on the circumstances, ”he told our colleagues from the VOA.
Her colleague in development, however, underlined that the German civil aid, effective since independence, was also very much appreciated.
“The message we wanted to send is that even if the military commitment ends, cooperation for development continues,” she said, citing access to water or agriculture.
“For example, we can pilot projects here in Gao, even from Bamako. It is possible, we have a long experience in this area, ”she assured.
BY SIKOU BAH
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