Brussels, 05/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - Stabilisation linked to implementation of the roadmap adopted by the Malian authorities and welcomed by all, respect of human rights, future transformation of AFISMA (the African-led international support mission to Mali) into a peace operation under the aegis of the United Nations - those are the main elements that came out of the ministerial meeting of the group for the support and follow-up of the situation in Mali hosted in Brussels on Tuesday 5 February by the European Union (see EUROPE 10778). Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, was the host of this international meeting to which no European country had sent its foreign minister. For all participants, the most urgent thing is to regain control of the whole of Malian territory and to ensure that political dialogue results in elections on 31 July this year. Also, although AFISMA's going to the United Nations is not on the agenda immediately and will require a resolution from the Security Council, the prospect of this was the subject of consensus. All thanked France for its military intervention.
Ashton said they wanted to open the road to the future, that every democracy must defend itself and that they condemn the atrocities committed in North Mali. Also, she went on, the international community must recognise its responsibility to protect the civilian populations there. She added that they will be keeping to the commitments made end January. She said the EU will take part in training AFISMA and is willing to deploy over €300million in total for the next few years in order to support the Malian population, peace and security (€50 million for AFISMA, and €250 million in development aid for Mali).
Speaking of a global threat, security and defence challenges that concern all civilised countries, Thieman Coulibaly, Mali's Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, welcomed the fact that this meeting had brought together all those who feel concerned by the crisis in Mali, that is, essentially, the “whole world” to reflect upon how to proceed in terms of everything concerning the stabilisation and reconstruction phases. He said he was open to far-reaching national dialogue that will include all representatives of the national community as long as they recognise the national unity, territorial integrity, secular nature of the Republic and renounce arms, with a view to the elections on 31 July.
The Malian minister gave his assurance that the authorities are working for that date to be upheld, just as the three conditions required for “cohesion, stability and national unity” must be upheld. In favour of AFISMA going before the United Nations, he stressed the need to define the mandate and agenda.
Pascal Canfin, the French deputy foreign minister responsible for development, told the press (our translation throughout): “We hope to strengthen political dialogue with all players: the AU, the EU and, first and foremost, the Malian foreign minister in order to get the political process and the development process on the right track as, now, alongside military intervention, what is needed is to win peace, and winning peace means deployment of the international community around Mali. Winning peace, that is first of all the responsibility of the Malians but we believe that the international community can play a positive role to accompany the Malian authorities in the process in order to win peace alongside the military intervention underway”.
AFISMA's transformation into a peace mission will be accomplished over the “medium term” as the war is not yet over and military action will continue until the conflict is over throughout the whole territory. According to Canfin: “It is first and foremost necessary for AFISMA to deploy throughout the whole of the territory so that France can gradually pull out as we do not intend to remain in Mali forever”. He went on to add: “In the short term, the main challenge is deployment. Then, we must agree on the mandate and the arrangements for a peace keeping operation”. This idea has the “support of the EU, the United States and ECOWAS, which agree to move gradually towards a peacekeeping operation”.
Along the lines of the message delivered by French President François Hollande to Malian President Traoré in Bamako on 2 February, Canfin said: “We are extremely attentive to human rights being respected, to the absence of violence and abuse or acts of vengeance as this could compromise stability in the longer term and the implementation of the political process. We are therefore extremely vigilant”. He went on to affirm that Operation Serval had not, for now, generated massive flows of refugees. However, he said, they are being extremely careful, with the EU, to ensure that the humanitarian situation remains under control.
Kadré Désiré Ouedraogo, President of the ECOWAS Commission, welcomed the constructive meeting and expressed gratitude at the EU's support in managing the crisis in Mali. He said that, now that the situation has been stabilised, the phase of territorial liberation is coming to an end, and they can envisage a political exit to the crisis. They all agree to give their support to Mali, he stressed.
Ally Coulibaly, Ivoirian Minister for Integration and for Ivoirians living abroad, said that after withdrawal of the French forces, AFISMA will be transformed into a UN force. The Malian forces and the ECOWAS forces are now deploying. (AN/transl.jl)