Brussels, 11/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - The EU had hardly given itself the go-ahead, on Monday, for operational planning of its possible EUTM Mali mission to support the training and restructuring of Malian armed forces (see EUROPE 10748), when it learned of the arrest by the military of the Malian prime minister, Sheikh Modibo Diarra, who has been forced to resign. This new development does not prevent the EU from pursuing its operational planning of the mission, but the EU will be closely monitoring the situation, the press was told on Tuesday by Michael Mann, who is spokesman to Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Ashton notes the resignation of the Malian prime minister and calls on the acting president to appoint, as soon as possible after consulting the political forces, a new consensual prime minister as well as an inclusive government, Mann said. Ashton also calls on the military to stop interfering in political life and to support the transition process for return to constitutional order.
Speaking to a journalist who asked to what extent this forced resignation could compromise the possibility of deploying the EUTM Mali mission, the spokesman replied (our translation throughout): “Despite recent events, preparations for the training mission are being continued but we shall be very attentive to the attitude shown by the military to see whether they continue, or not, to be involved in political life. The situation remains the same but we are monitoring it very closely”. Not wishing to take a stance on the hypothetical case of interference continuing, he added: “We trust that a prime minister will be appointed very soon. We have been scalded several times”.
The previous day, in unanimous conclusions, the Council had reiterated the EU's concerns regarding delays incurred in the political transition process and had called on “political leaders in Bamako to demonstrate their commitment to work for the benefit of all Malians through the rapid adoption and implementation of a credible and consensual roadmap for the restoration of constitutional and democratic order in Mali, including a return to civilian control of the Malian Armed Forces and the organisation of free and transparent elections as soon as possible”.
The crisis management concept adopted on Monday by the Council provides for the military staff of the EUTM Mali mission to be set up in Bamako (with training planned to the north-east of the capital) and for that mission to initially last 15 months. (AN/transl.jl)