The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, announced on Thursday 13 January in Brest that despite the junta’s refusal to hand over power to civilians and the presence of the Wagner group in the country (see EUROPE 12795/25), the EU’s training mission in Mali (EUTM Mali) would continue as normal.
He also announced that the EU would take sanctions against the country, in line with the measures adopted by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
“For the time being, the EUTM training missions will continue”, the High Representative announced at the end of the informal meeting of European defence ministers.
“We want to remain engaged in Mali, in the Sahel, but not at any price”, he warned.
When asked by EUROPE about the continuation of this mission, while Wagner’s presence in the Central African Republic (see EUROPE 12854/10) had had an impact on the EUTM mission in the country, Mr Borrell explained that Wagner’s presence in Mali was “by far not as significant as in the CAR”. He noted that in the Central African Republic, the presence of Wagner’s troops was “very widespread”.
“They have been there for some time, progressively, and we can say that at the moment they control all the security elements in the country, the protection of the authorities, they participate in military actions, there are clear cases of human rights abuses. We cannot continue to train soldiers who will end up being the collaborators in this situation”, he explained.
For her part, the French Minister for the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, said that Mali and CAR were “two sides of the same coin”. She explained that Europe wanted to avoid a replication of Wagner’s actions in the Central African Republic in Mali. “We are discussing how best to use the maximum pressure exerted by ECOWAS and how, under what conditions, the fight against terrorism can continue”, she explained.
According to the Minister, there are a “number of problems that are not mere details” and that require an extremely precise analysis of the conditions to be met in order to continue the actions carried out.
New sanctions to be adopted
Calling the risk of a deterioration of the situation “obvious”, Borrell warned that the EU would take action after ECOWAS had adopted measures. According to him, they will be in line with those of the African organisation. “Despite all the warnings, we see no sign of progress on the part of the local authorities”, said the High Representative. According to Romanian Minister Bogdan Aurescu, France has proposed the imposition of sanctions against those who threaten democracy in Mali. In December, the EU adopted a framework for sanctions against those who impede political transition (see EUROPE 12852/3).
The High Representative also announced that the EU had not suspended its development aid to Mali, but had blocked its support for budgetary aid. This decision was taken from the moment the EU knew that the elections would not take place, he said. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)