The fate of Operation Barkhane will be decided on the sidelines of the European Union-African Union Summit in Brussels, Belgium in the next few days.
According to several diplomatic sources, regional and international leaders will meet on Wednesday in Paris, to discuss with French president, Emmanuel Macron, ahead of the EU-Africa Summit slated for Thursday, February 17, 2022.
On this occasion, Mr. Macron has invited for Wednesday’s meeting the leaders of the G5 Sahel, notably Niger’s Mohamed Bazoum, Chadian leader, Mahamat Idriss Deby and Mauritania’s Mohamed Ould Ghazouani.
Conspicuous from Macron’s list of invitees are the military transitional authorities of Burkina Faso and Mali.
African Union chair Macky Sall and the current sitting chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) Ghana’s Nana Akufo-Addo will attend the meeting, as well as Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell.
Before Sall, and G5 Sahel leaders Emmanuel Macron, who is also new President of the EU, must present a reorganization of the Barkhane Operation led by his country against jihadism in the Sahel.
The Elysée wishes to find concerted and collective solutions with its African and European partners before the possible withdrawal of French troops from Mali.
According to various sources, half of the 4,800 French soldiers currently deployed as part of the operation are stationed in Mali and could leave the country soon.
The authorities in Paris and Bamako have not been speaking the same language for weeks.
The war of words has reached such a point that the ruling junta in Bamako decided on January 31 to expel the French ambassador, demanding more respect from Paris.
In return, Paris had called the current Malian leadership “illegitimate” stressing that it was making “irresponsible decisions.”
The conditions no longer seemed to be right for France to maintain its military presence in Mali.
In addition to keeping the Malian military in power, the alleged arrival of Wagner, the Russian private military organization appears to be another red line that has been crossed, according to France.
Against a backdrop of growing anti-French sentiment in the Sahel, Paris had also announced that it would “work by mid-February” to adjust its military posture in the region and will likely act on its forced military withdrawal from Mali.
On Monday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, stated that “if the conditions are no longer met, which is obviously the case, for us to be able to act in Mali, we will continue to fight terrorism alongside the other countries of the Sahel, which are prepared to fully work with us. This would mean that the withdrawal of French troops from Mali is becoming clearer, even if they will refocus their action in Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad, among other Sahelian countries currently targeted by jihadist violence”.
According to data published by the French Ministry of Defense in December 2021, Operation Barkhane has three military bases in northern Mali.
The main one is located in Gao and has combat helicopters, troops, heavy armored vehicles and transport logistics.
ODL/cgd/fss/as/APA