The European foreign ministers showed the same unity and firmness towards Mali as their defence colleagues in Brest on Friday 14 January, according to the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, and the French Foreign Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian.
“We all agree that the situation is not going in the right direction and that the junta is not giving any positive signals, on the contrary, but we will remain committed to the Sahel, but not at any price”, said Borrell.
He confirmed that the EU was preparing sanctions in line with what the European Council decided in May, and in full support of the sanctions adopted on Sunday by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which isolate Mali and hit it economically.
Borrell said he had convened a ministerial meeting with the G5 Sahel, which will be followed in the next few days by a meeting of the Sahel Coalition to be organised by Jean-Yves Le Drian.
“We appreciated the courageous position of ECOWAS, taken unanimously, with the will to preserve democracy in Mali, and also the condemnation of the presence of the Wagner mercenary company ”, said the French minister.
He went on: “We are, and want to stay, in Mali, and we will stay, but not at any price”. The only reason for this presence, he said, was “the fight against terrorism”.
As Malians demonstrated on Friday in Bamako against the sanctions imposed on their country by ECOWAS, Mr Le Drian noted that the Malian military authorities had invoked security reasons to postpone the deadline for holding elections for the civilian transition to five years. “I think that if it’s safe to demonstrate, it must surely be safe to vote”, he said ironically.
EU/AU Summit. Preparations for the EU/AU summit on 17-18 February (Brussels) were the focus of the ministers’ lunch, with the chair of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, and the Senegalese Minister for Foreign Affairs, Aïssata Tall Sall, whose country will hold the AU presidency as of 5 February.
Josep Borrell spoke of this summit as a “fundamental, well-prepared meeting, with frank dialogue”, underlining the interdependence of the two continents, which are called upon to effectively address common challenges. “Africa’s problems are Europe’s problems. We share the same problems, be it security and terrorism, climate change or migration”, he said.
Mr Le Drian hopes that this “strategic summit” will lead to “a new deal between the EU and the AU” for prosperity, security and mobility. He also mentioned “the health issues” that will be discussed, and those relating to a “more efficient Euro-African security architecture”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)