2023-06-17 15:31:51
The Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdoulaye Diop, urged this Friday, June 16, the UN Security Council to withdraw “without delay” MINUSMA from Mali.
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Ten years after its launch, in 2013, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali -MINUSMA- failed, in the words of the Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs, to “appropriate responses to the security situation in Mali”. For that reason, Abdoulaye Diop asked the UN Security Council to withdraw “without delay” MINUSMA from Mali.
“Realism imposes the realization of the failure of MINUSMA whose mandate does not respond to the challenge of security”, declared the minister before the members of the UN Security Council.
The head of Malian diplomacy insisted that “MINUSMA is fueling community tensions, generating a feeling of distrust among the populations and a crisis of trust between the Malian authorities and MINUSMA”.
Speaking to RFI, Jean-Hervé Jezequel, Director of the organization’s Sahel Project International Crisis Group points out that, despite the warning signs, the announcement came as a surprise.
“We thought that the Malian authorities were not going to ask for the immediate withdrawal of MINUSMA. MINUSMA does its job, providing precious resources, in a country plunged into a crisis that has lasted for ten years. However, tensions have been rising for months. The publication of the report on the Moura massacre, a few weeks ago, heightened tensions”he stressed.
Jean-Hervé Jezequel notes that the Malian decision is in line with the policy that the transitional authorities have chosen in recent times.
“For the past two years, Malian authorities have asked for the withdrawal of the Barkane Force from the European Tacuba operation. Mali withdrew from the G5 Sahel. MINUSMA was the last force present. And now they are the ones imposing their choice.”use
The UN Security Council must decide on the next 29th of June the renewal of MINUSMA’s mandate, which expires at the end of the month.
This week, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, came to defend a reconfiguration of MINUSMA, a position favorable to the countries of the region. However, this Friday’s meeting showed, once again, the divisions within the UN Security Council.
Several countries -France, United States, United Kingdom- gave their support for the continuity of MINUSMA. Mozambique, Ghana and Gabon, the three African countries that are members of the Security Council, also defended that close cooperation with the Malian authorities is “essential to consolidate progress towards lasting peace”.
But Russia, which has a veto in the Council, backed the Malian authorities. “We believe that any proposal here should be based on the opinion of the host country,” said Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia.
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