Brussels, 22/01/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 17 January at the Extraordinary Foreign Affairs Council, the EU decided to speed up its preparations in all areas of its response to the political, security and humanitarian crisis in Mali. The EU's Political and Security Committee was informed about the most recent factors discussed previously at the Mali crisis platform. On Tuesday, senior EU officials declared that, “we need to be well coordinated and not waste time. The message has been sent to member states. There will be as many platform meetings as necessary”.
The EU is in direct contact with the authorities in Mali to speed up the road map for a return to constitutional and democratic order. Senior EU officials indicated that, “the EU will see in what way we can help mediation and efforts of reconciliation”. They also confirmed that a decision was currently being discussed on appointing a special representative for the Sahel. The ideas of hosting a ministerial meeting for the international support and follow up group on the situation in Mali, chaired by Catherine Ashton, on 5 February, is also making headway (EUROPE 10768). In response to those who have criticised the EU for not having done enough, these officials stated that, “France has sent troops but Malian troops need restructuring and training. We have had a lot of contact with Laurent Fabius. We need to see how a context that is conducive to the deployment of the AFISMA and EUTM can be set up again, as planned before the rebel advance. We were asked to provide a boost and we've done what we were asked”. Negotiations are continuing on the agreement regarding the status of EUTM troops in Mali (which will guarantee these troops immunity in respect of national and international law). General François Lecointre, the head of EUTM Mali has arrived in Bamako. He will provide a report on his mission at the end of the week at the EU Political and Security Committee (PSc).
The African force from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is in place, with personnel of more than 1000 in Bamako and around 2000 Chadian soldiers coming from the east. Coordination of all the different efforts made will need to be speeded up. The senior EU officials indicated that, “planning must be very swift. We are setting up the ECOWAS HQ. The necessary logistics need preparing for these troop movements”. Bilateral contributions to demands for assistance made by ECOWAS go through the “clearing house” mechanism set up on Monday in Brussels (EUROPE 10768). EU aid will be provided in two phases, through the Africa Peace Facility and will be announced at the international donors' conference on 29 January in Addis Ababa, the day after the African Union summit.
The international Mali support mission's requirements, under African leadership (AFISMA) are estimated to be around $400 million (€375 million). The senior officials indicated that, “half will be for Malian forces and the other half for the ECOWAS force, but this really is a broad estimate”. (AN/trans/fl)