The Bundeswehr mission in Mali is currently the largest foreign mission. The military commissioner Högl would like to have an exit strategy, Foreign Minister Baerbock warns against a hasty withdrawal. According to the minister, this could have devastating consequences in the crisis country.
Despite the extremely critical situation in Mali, Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock defended the deployment of the Bundeswehr in the African crisis country. Germany also has “responsibility for what happens if we withdraw hastily,” said Baerbock of the “Bild am Sonntag”. Mali must not become “Russia’s vassal”. “If entire regions fall into the hands of Islamists, girls can no longer go to school or the whole of Mali becomes a vassal of Russia, we will also feel the effects in Europe,” said Baerbock. There could then be “new streams of refugees or even attacks”.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces, Eva Högl, is increasingly skeptical about the future deployment of the Bundeswehr in Mali. “In any case, we all put a lot of question marks on it!” Högl told Deutschlandfunk. She criticized the behavior of the Malian military government. This had recently gone into confrontation with the UN mission Minusma in the country and had also denied overflight rights.
The safety of the soldiers must be guaranteed, said Högl. In addition, the question arises as to whether the Bundeswehr can still fulfill its mission. “We mustn’t allow ourselves to be harassed,” said Högl in view of the denied overflight rights for the Luftwaffe. The growing presence of Russian soldiers in Mali makes the mission even more dangerous. “I hope that a scenario will now be developed that also provides for the withdrawal, because it’s looking worse every day,” said the military commissioner.
Baerbock also criticized the lack of operational capability of Bundeswehr helicopters. “If only 9 of 50 Tiger attack helicopters were operational, we cannot send half of them to Mali.” She is therefore looking for solutions with international partners “so that we don’t abandon the people in the Sahel to their fate and, above all, don’t leave this region to Russia as well,” announced Baerbock.
Germany is participating in the international Minusma peacekeeping mission of the United Nations in Mali. The situation in the country is extremely tense. In recent weeks there have also been repeated problems with the Malian interim government refusing overflight rights for the German armed forces and other foreign armed forces.
The UN peacekeeping mission Minusma has been in Mali since 2013, and the UN Security Council only extended its mandate by a further year at the end of June. For the Bundeswehr, the mission is currently the largest foreign mission – and it is also considered its most dangerous. The federal government has repeatedly stated that it intends to stick with the mission, provided the conditions are right.
