The German government endorsed, Wednesday, May 3, the withdrawal by May 2024 of its troops engaged in the UN mission in Mali, Minusma, due to tensions with the ruling junta. Meeting in the Council of Ministers, the government of Olaf Scholz confirmed in a press release that the German soldiers of the Bundeswehr would gradually leave the country over the next twelve months. This decision to withdraw from Mali was announced at the end of 2022. Berlin considers that the conditions are no longer met to continue to participate in Minusma, to which Germany has contributed since 2013.
Mali has been plagued by the spread of jihadism and violence of all kinds since the outbreak of rebellions in the north of the country in 2012. The colonels who took power by force in 2020 pushed the military alliance with France and its partners in 2022 and turned to Russia. With around a thousand soldiers, Germany is the largest Western contributor to the Minusma.
“Whether we like it or not, what is happening in the Sahel affects us,” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in a statement on Wednesday. This is why Berlin intends to stay in the region and redirect its commitment to security in Niger, Mauritania and the Gulf of Guinea states, she said. To maintain pressure on jihadist groups active in the Sahel, several countries want to strengthen cooperation with Niger, considered a more reliable partner than Mali. The German government decided in April to send 60 soldiers there to participate in a new mission led by the European Union.
Minusma, with around 12,000 soldiers deployed in Mali, is the UN mission that has suffered the most losses in the world in recent years. Since its creation in 2013, 185 of its members have died in hostile acts.
