(dpa/NAN)
German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht has called on Mali’s military government to clarify the basis for the German-led UN stabilisation mission’s presence in the country.
Lambrecht made the call in an interview with the German media on Tuesday.
This is happening after a series of incidents that threatened to strain ties between Bamako and Berlin.
“Before the next rotation, it must be ensured that German soldiers can enter the country and also leave it again,” Lambrecht said.
She said she had been “very irritated by the events of the past few days – from the detention of soldiers from Côte d’Ivoire to the ambiguities surrounding the departure for some Bundeswehr soldiers, and to the questioning of the rotation of UN troops.”
The Malian government had earlier demanded clarification on the relationship between the German government and 49 soldiers from Ivory Coast arrested in the Malian capital last week.
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The Ivorian soldiers were detained on July 10 for allegedly entering the country illegally, destabilising the Malian government, and being mercenaries.
However, according to the German Defence Ministry, the troops have been deployed in the country since 2019, with the knowledge and approval of Malian authorities, to guard a UN base at Bamako airport.
Ties between Berlin and Bamako have been strained since a military coup in Mali last year, though the situation has further deteriorated in recent months, with the military government in Mali declaring that it would not permit any personnel changes to the international forces in the country for the time being.
On Thursday, eight members of the German Armed Forces were prevented from boarding a civilian flight by Malian authorities in an act Berlin termed “harassment.”
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) is a peacekeeping force established to boost security in Mali after the Tuareg Rebellion of 2012, an early stage of the ongoing armed conflict in the country.
The Bundeswehr is involved in the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali.
However, the European training mission EUTM has been largely halted.
The plan is now to focus on operations in the neighbouring country of Niger, where German soldiers are already training local forces.