Berlin (dpa) – Following the UN Security Council’s decision to end the Mali mission, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has talked of a more rapid withdrawal of the Bundeswehr. “The Bundeswehr will now withdraw in an accelerated and orderly manner,” the Green politician explained. We wanted to continue contributing to the security of the people in Mali, but the West African country’s military government has made this impossible, she added. The abrupt end of the entire UN mission Minusma is “bitter news for the people in Mali to whom the mission gave protection and hope,” wrote Baerbock.
The UN Security Council had decided in a unanimously adopted resolution on Friday to end the Minusma mission in Mali at the end of the year following a transitional period of six months. This was what the country’s military government had requested. The Bundeswehr is taking part in the mission with around 1,100 soldiers. The UN mission aimed at stabilising Mali has been underway since 2013. It was launched after Islamic terrorists overran the north of the country. Ever since, the terrorist groups have been spreading in Mali and its neighbouring states. The military seized power in the Sahel country with its around 23 million inhabitants in two coups in 2020 and 2021 and turned to Russia. It is estimated that as many as 2,000 Russian Wagner mercenaries are operating in the country.