EU’s last training mission leaves Mali

Thus, after a decade of presence in Mali, this mission is coming to an end against the backdrop of tensions between the junta-led West African nation and its European partners.

Speaking on the occasion, the Commander of the Boubacar Sada Sy Training Center in Koulikoro, Colonel Issa Kaloga, said that in 10 years of presence on Malian soil, the European Union Training Mission has actively participated in the training of more than 5,000 Malian soldiers, all categories included.

This support has involved the joint battlegroups, logistics, operational search, leadership and other no less important areas.

According to him, the departure of EUTM from Mali is “a will of the command, the appropriation of the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) of the various formations which are part of the generation of new forces and their preparation to fight effectively against terrorism and the preservation of our sovereignty by the defense of the integrity of the national territory as well as the protection of the people and their goods,” adding that this departure intervenes within the framework of “the re-configuration of our defense tool in a new Mali.”

The EUTM Commander, General Santiago Juan Fernandez Diaz Repiso, said that “the Malian Armed Forces are now more competent, better equipped and better trained to meet security challenges.”

“The Malian Armed Forces are a spearhead on which society relies to improve the security situation; their professional competence and respect for human rights are fundamental elements that justify trusting them,” the EUTM Commander said.

According to General Santiago, EUTM has worked closely with the Malian authorities and their international partners to strengthen security and stability in the region. It has also contributed to improving the security situation in the Sahel region by working hand in hand with the G5 Sahel Joint Force.

He said the mission has suffered tragic losses, but remains committed to continuing its engagement with Mali and the Sahel region.

Deployed on January 17, 2013, following multidimensional crises, to provide training and capacity building support to Mali’s Defense and Security Forces, the EU’s military training mission has had a mixed record during its decade-long presence in the country.

Yet EUTM Mali is the largest of the EU’s six external military operations.

Before its suspension in March 2022, the mission had deployed more than 1,000 soldiers from 25 countries, including 22 EU members.  For the year 2021 alone, the EU had allocated a budget of €46 billion to the mission, 10 billion more than the budget allocated to humanitarian aid provided by Europe to Mali that year…

This premature withdrawal was due to European concerns about “the arrival of the Wagner group in Mali,” which the authorities described as “instructors.”

They were waiting for guarantees from Bamako that the soldiers trained by the EU would not end up under the command of these Russian militias accused of committing abuses in the Central African Republic and Syria.

On March 22, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, announced the suspension sine die of the EU’s Malian missions – EUTM and EUCAP, its equivalent for training police and security forces. The freeze on European training missions follows the withdrawal of French troops from Operation Barkhane and the European joint force Takuba, effective since August 2022.

The German minister at the time said “without these combat troops to protect the EUTM trainers in case of emergency, it is unlikely that the mission can continue.” While they are withdrawing militarily from Mali, the Europeans nevertheless launched a military partnership mission in Niger (EUMPM Niger) at the end of February as part of the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP) to support the country in its fight against armed terrorist groups.

Niger is already home to several Western military contingents; notably from France, Germany, Italy and the United States.

MD/ha/fss/as/APA