opposition to extension
Bundeswehr remains in Mali for another year
May 26, 2023, 3:12 p.m
There is a military junta in Mali that cooperates with the Wagner mercenary group. The opposition in Germany sees the safety of Bundeswehr soldiers there at risk and is urging them to be brought back soon. However, the coalition pushed through an extension of the mission.
The Bundestag last extended the Bundeswehr mission in West African Mali by another year. Against the votes of the entire opposition, the parliamentary majority decided to withdraw the German soldiers from the crisis state on May 31, 2024. The Bundeswehr has been involved in the MINUSMA blue helmet mission to stabilize the country for ten years. Around 1,000 German soldiers are still stationed there, mainly in Gao in the north of the country.
Due to the precarious security situation, however, they can no longer carry out their mission. The country’s military government has severely restricted the Bundeswehr’s freedom of movement and is working with Russia and the mercenaries of the so-called Wagner Group. Most recently, the Bundeswehr had repeatedly been massively obstructed by Mali’s military junta. For example, they refused flight permits for the Heron reconnaissance drone operated by the Germans on behalf of the UN.
The CDU/CSU parliamentary group had therefore called for the German armed forces’ current largest and most dangerous foreign mission to be ended by the end of the year at the latest. The traffic light coalition justified the later withdrawal with the presidential elections planned for February 2024 in Mali. In addition, a deduction must be orderly, reliable and coordinated with international partners, explained Agnieszka Brugger, deputy leader of the Greens parliamentary group.
However, the defense policy spokesman for the Union faction, Florian Hahn, emphasized that the security and supplies of the soldiers were no longer guaranteed and that there was no longer any talk of fulfilling the order. According to the CSU politician, protecting the announced elections is also not a sufficient argument: “You all know very well that these elections will probably not take place.” Resistance to the extension of the mandate also came from the AfD and the left, who – unlike the Union parties – had already rejected the assignment in previous years.