The French President, Emmanuel Macron, announced on Tuesday 30 June that the Europeans wanted to "Europeanise" the fight against terrorism in the Sahel, which currently rests very much on French shoulders.
Proof of this is the presence at the G5 summit in Nouakchott not only of the French President, but also of the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez. The President of the Italian Council, Paolo Conte, the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, participated virtually in the meeting.
"Europe, its Member States, our partners, including Americans, neighbouring countries... Everyone is there, because we are convinced that victory is possible in the Sahel", explained Mr Macron (see EUROPE 12476/11).
The G5 Sahel declaration issued at the end of the summit also welcomed "the commitment and decisive role of the EU in terms of advice, training, equipment and infrastructure". The EU training mission, EUTM Mali, will resume its training after a suspension due to the Covid-19 pandemic and has seen an extension of its area of action (see EUROPE 12452/23). "95% of the staff requested have already been made available by the 22 of the 27 Member States participating in the programme. As soon as conditions permit, we will deploy the entire workforce", announced Mr Michel, when Mr Macron welcomed the "strong German and Spanish involvement".
While more than 4,000 people have been killed since the January summit, Macron said there have been "spectacular results" against terrorist groups in recent weeks. The French President explained that this dynamic should be "reinforced and amplified with, in the coming weeks, the European initiatives with the Takuba force, which will take over from the French reinforcements deployed in January" (see EUROPE 12457/34).
The EU is also committed to strengthening the security, stability and resilience of the region and to the deployment of State and basic services, Mr Michel recalled. "We can and must build together an area of security and economic prosperity. We need to build a space where good governance prevails and where the Rule of law and fundamental rights also prevail", he added.
According to Mr Macron, "the challenge of the next few months" will be the return of State, public services and administration to the region. "This effort will be our priority in the times to come", he insisted.
Mr Michel also returned to the issue of debt cancellation for African countries. Italy, which will assume the presidency of the G20 in 2021, will, according to him, have "a positive view, particularly on the debt moratorium".
See the G5 statement (in French): https://bit.ly/31zav4U (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)