Germany criticized the military council in Mali’s request for United Nations peacekeepers to leave the country, which it considered politically motivated, and Berlin renewed its commitment to an orderly withdrawal of its forces by May 2024.

Interim military officials in Mali have called for the withdrawal of the United Nations peacekeeping mission “without delay,” citing a “crisis of trust” between them and the forces that have been stationed in the country for 10 years, according to Minusma.

Mali’s foreign minister, Abdallah Diop, said the forces had become “part of the problem by stoking tensions between factions of the population”.

Berlin announced its decision to withdraw from Mali by the end of 2022, before the government approved it last May due to tensions with the ruling military council.

European relations with Mali have soured since a military coup in 2020, prompting France to withdraw its forces last year after a nearly 10-year stay since the Malian government invited fighters from the Russian private military group Wagner to support the fight against the rebels. in the country.

Berlin has about 1,000 troops stationed in Mali, most of them near the city of Gao (in the north of the country), where their work focuses on military intelligence for the Minusma forces, which number an estimated 13,000.

The United Nations Security Council sent peacekeepers to the country in 2013 to support foreign and domestic efforts to restore stability.

UN Security Council members must adopt a draft resolution to extend the mandate of the international mission (MINUSMA) by June 30.

The head of “MINUSMA” Al-Qassim Wayne said yesterday that the mission’s work would be “almost impossible” without the approval of the Malian authorities.

“It’s a decision that has to be taken by the Security Council,” he said. “But what I want to say, and I think everyone agrees, is that peacekeeping depends on the principle of country consent.”

Passage of the draft resolution requires the approval of at least 9 members, without Russia, China, the United States, Britain or France using their veto power.