France on Friday, September 19, 2025, announced the suspension of its counterterrorism cooperation with Mali and ordered the departure of two Malian diplomats.
The authorities in Bamako had already declared five French embassy staff persona non grata, who left the country on September 14, according to French diplomatic sources.
The sequence of reciprocal expulsions between Mali and France began on August 15, 2025, when the Malian authorities arrested a French embassy employee, accusing him of plotting to destabilise the country.
France rejected the accusations as unfounded. A month later, France decided to expel two Malian diplomats amid rising tensions.
While presented as reciprocal measures, the expulsions overlapped: the five French staff left Bamako on September 14, whereas France announced the expulsion of Malian diplomats only on September 19,
blurring the logic of an immediate reaction.
The events echo a previous diplomatic dispute. On January 31, 2022, Mali gave French Ambassador Joël Meyer 72 hours to leave the country. In Paris, the Malian ambassadorial post has been vacant since
the recall of Toumani Djimé Diallo in February 2020. Since then, both embassies have operated under chargés d’affaires.
As of September 19, 2025, France has not specified the duration or exact scope of the suspension of counterterrorism cooperation, while Bamako has not officially communicated the precise reasons for
expelling the five French staff member,
MD/ac/Sf/lb/gik/APA