A crucial meeting on Mali is scheduled today in Accra, capital of Ghana. The leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will hear Colonel Assimi Goita, a strong man from Mali, dubbed by the Constitutional Court as interim president. The perpetrator of two coups d’état in the space of nine months was reportedly imposed after the “power vacuum” was found. The West African community is expected to vote on this second coup, which sees the dismissal of the president and the prime minister of the transition.
Country maintained under artificial respiration by international aid and UN troops (Minusma) as well as French Barkhane forces, Mali is tempted by a dialogue with the Jihadists according to the same philosophy as the deal between the Americans and the Taliban . Opposed to this idea, French President Emmanuel Macron assured that he was considering a withdrawal from Barkhane if Mali went “in the direction” of the jihadists. The tenant of the Elysee Palace revealed to the Journal du Dimanche that he had told regional leaders that France would not support countries where there was neither democratic legitimacy nor transition, and that France did not have the intends to keep his troops in Africa forever. As a reminder, Paris has 5,100 soldiers in the Sahel region. French troops are supporting G5 forces (Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad) against jihadist groups.
Behind Paris, Moscow is watching, ready to take over according to the information. Russia signed a military cooperation agreement with Mali in June 2019, recalling the circumstances of the early 1960s when the opening of the USSR embassy followed the departure of the last French soldier. We are heading straight for a sort of “centralization” of a country on sick leave since 2012 with since then two presidential elections and at least three successful putches.
