(by Andrea Pinto) Last week the French Minister of Defense Florence Parly he had said, during a radio interview, that France is not forced to maintain its own military presence in Mali at all costs. Open sources say that the transalpine government's decision to withdraw from Mali could be taken in the next two weeks.
The new French line of action, following the tensions between Mali and its international partners, including regional bodies and the European Union, which have sanctioned the African country because the military junta, despite promises, has not yet organized free elections.
But the political clash between the military junta and France reached a very high level of tension when the other day the coup government of Bamako decided to expel the French ambassador from the country. The announcement was made in a statement read on state TV Orthm: "The Government of the Republic of Mali informs the national and international opinion that today the French ambassador to Bamako, Joël Meyer, has been summoned by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and that he has been notified of the decision inviting him to leave the territory national within 72 hours ".
The cumbersome presence in Mali of Russian mercenaries from the private group was also much discussed Wagner, very close to the Kremlin and blacklisted by the international community due to heavy allegations of human rights violations.
In the meantime, the Denmark it began withdrawing its troops from Mali after the transitional junta government insisted on an immediate withdrawal last week.
The junta's decision to officially ask Denmark to leave is also having repercussions on other sides that had given their willingness to integrate the efforts of the French-led international operation Takuba. The Norway, in fact, announced to withdraw its availability while Hungary, Portugal, Romania and Lithuania they are carefully considering sending their own troops, in light of the developments in recent days.
The Malian military junta, to settle any doubts, through the local media has made it known that all foreign national commitments in the Takuba Task Force they can be authorized only following a written invitation from the President of the Republic and after the approval of the Government of the Republic of Mali. It is not yet clear whether this is a condition only for future national accessions, or if it is also addressed to nations present today in the operational theater, Like Italy.
Italy in the Sahel
Our country is present in that territory with the “Bilateral support mission in the Republic of Niger - MISIN"(With the geographical area of intervention also extended to Mauritania, Nigeria and Benin) in order to increase the capacities aimed at combating the phenomenon of illegal trafficking and security threats, as part of a joint European and US effort for the stabilization of area and the strengthening of territorial control capacities by the Nigerian authorities and the G5 Sahel countries.
The mission, commanded by the pilot colonel of the Air Force, Davide Cipelletti, in addition to border and territory control, it supports the Nigerian authorities and the G5 Sahel countries (Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Chad and Burkina Faso), to develop the capabilities of the Nigerian security forces (Armed Forces, National Gendarmerie, Guardia National and Special Forces of the Republic of Niger).
About 200 militar Italians, on the other hand, operated within the TF Takuba, guaranteeing medical evacuation capabilities of coalition personnel in operation through the use of the 3 CH 47 F transport aircraft of theArmy, in medevac configuration that make use of the necessary safety framework ensured by the 3 exploration and escort helicopters AH - 129D "Mangusta", of the 5th and 7th regiments of the Army Aircraft Brigade, framed in the Task Force “Jacana".
Sahel territory of coups
More than 114 million people ruled by the military have taken power illegally. There have been four successful coups in Africa in 2021 - there have not been that many in a single calendar year since 1999. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called it "an epidemic of coups d'etat".
Over the past 18 months, the military has overthrown the governments of the Mali, the Chadand Guinea, of the Sudan and now Burkina Faso. On Friday, West African leaders called an emergency summit on the situation in Burkina Faso, where the new military leader, Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba, told the nation in his first public address that he would bring the country back to Ordinary constitution "only when conditions were favorable".
The resurgence of coups has alarmed the few remaining civilian leaders in the region. The President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo said Friday: "The current situation poses a threat to peace, security and stability in West Africa".
These five nations that have recently experienced military coups form a broken line extending from Guinea on the west coast to Sudan in the east. The first coup came from Mali, in August 2020, while an unusual coup took place in Chad in April 2021, when the president who had ruled for three decades was killed on the battlefield and was immediately replaced by his son, in full violation of the current Constitution.
In March 2021 there was a failed coup attempt in Niger, then in September 2021 it was the turn of Guinea: a senior officer, trained by the United States, overthrew the regent president. Then, in October, Sudan: the country's generals took over the country, through a power-sharing agreement that was supposed to lead to elections.
Fertile ground for coup leaders. People are fed up with their governments for many reasons: lack of security, a succession of humanitarian disasters and the uncertainty of a better future for millions of young people. Then all three Sahelian countries with recent coups - Mali, Burkina Faso and Chad - are grappling with Islamist insurrections that continue to spread, exploiting local tensions and general adversity against political elites. The coup in Mali, in fact, also occurred due to the government's inability to stem the spread of allied groups of Al Qaeda and the Islamic state.
Sanctions like boomerangs
The regional economic bloc, ECOWAS, has imposed heavy economic sanctions with the intent of driving Malians to revolt against the junta and exert pressure on military leaders to commit themselves to free elections.
"What is happening is the exact opposite "he said Ornella Moderan, head of the Sahel Program of the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria. The sanctions have had the opposite effect by arousing anger, against the ECOWAS and not against the military junta.
Even in neighboring Guinea and Burkina Faso, the population hailed the coup leaders as liberators. The coups in Mali therefore inspired the other surrounding countries thanks to the new narrative that was wisely spread: "Whoever takes power now must follow Mali's example, that is, oust France and start making national decisions autonomously."