APA-Bamako (Mali) Mali has announced the end of the Agreement for Reconciliation and Peace resulting from the Algiers process signed with the northern independence movements in 2015.
In a press release issued on Monday 29 January, the European Union (EU) expressed its regret at the decision by Mali’s transitional authorities to terminate the Algiers peace agreement signed in 2015.
According to the European Union, this unilateral decision will have “anegative impact on the civilian populations in the north of thecountry, who will be the first to suffer the consequences.” Inaddition, this rupture could also “disrupt national and regionalbalances, especially as no alternative to the 2015 peace agreement has yet been proposed.”
Against this backdrop, the European Union stresses the importance of giving priority to dialogue in order to resolve differences and promote the establishment of lasting peace in northern Mali. In its view, dialogue is the only way to reach solutions acceptable to all the parties concerned.
The EU is therefore calling on the transitional authorities in Mali “to reconsider their decision and return to the negotiating table to find a compromise that will preserve the stability of the region.” It also says it is ready “to support these mediation efforts and to provide assistance for the implementation of a new peace agreement, if
necessary.”
Like the UN and the AU, the EU is also a member of the International Mediation on the 2015 Peace Agreement, led by Algeria.
Bamako had announced the holding of an inter-Malian national dialogue for peace and national reconciliation. On Sunday 28 January, a presidential decree was issued to set up “a steering committee responsible for preparing and organizing” this meeting. As its members have not yet been appointed, the committee has one month to present its work. The CSP-PSD rebels have already rejected this offer of dialogue, preferring to adhere to the Algiers Agreement, which the transitional authorities have just announced is coming to an end.
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