The German army’s inspector general of the Bundeswehr has warned that its largest overseas mission, the one in Mali, West Africa, is becoming increasingly dangerous from an operational and political point of view.
“We have a government in Bamako that we do not consider to be democratically elected and legitimate. The fact that it does not want elections to be held for another five years is an unbearable situation for us. .
Around 1,400 members of the Bundeswehr are currently deployed in the African country as part of the European Union Training Mission (EUTM) and the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission (MINUSMA).
But tensions in Mali have escalated recently, especially between the military junta and France, a former colonial power. The French ambassador was expelled from Bamako, while the Danish Special Forces are forced to withdraw.
There have already been strong feuds between Mali and the West over the presence of Wagner’s Russian mercenaries.
The situation has become even more complicated throughout the region, said the top German official.
“If we expand our focus beyond Mali to the Sahel as a whole, we see another coup, in Burkina Faso, and an attempted coup in Guinea-Bissau. All of this does not facilitate the situation from an operational point of view,” said General Chorn.
“These countries are in difficult political waters. Niger is an anchor for us in the region right now.”
In Mali, the security situation is deteriorating overall, according to the officer. The training of the country’s armed forces is progressing but “there is a long way to go,” he noted.
For her part, the German Defense Minister expressed “great skepticism” about whether her country will maintain the power it has developed in Mali.
“I do not have the impression that we are welcome anymore,” Christine Lambrecht said in an interview with the German public television network ZDF. European countries say they now face restrictions on their junta counter-terrorism operations.
The rapid deterioration of relations between Bamako and Paris makes things increasingly difficult for Berlin, Ms. Lambrecht explained.
German Foreign Minister Analena Berbock also questioned the continuation of Germany’s military mission in Mali as early as last week.
SOURCE: AMPE
Source: Capital
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