The Diplomat
The EU Foreign Ministers decided yesterday in Brussels to give themselves “a little more time” before deciding on the continuity or not of the European training mission EUTM Mali, in which Spain currently provides the largest contingent.
During the meeting, the “viability of the mission” was “discussed”, explained the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, during the press conference following the Council. “We have agreed to give ourselves a little more time,” until the EU’s High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, “receives, if he receives, a response to his communications with the military junta in Mali, and then decide whether the conditions are in place to stay on the ground and decide whether the Malian government shows definite signs of moving forward in its democratic transition and what it expects from the mission,” he added.
Last February, France and other allied countries announced the withdrawal of their troops in Mali involved in the international missions Barkhane – for the fight against terrorism – and Takuba – formed by special units from different European countries – because of their disagreements with the military junta in Bamako and in protest against the presence in the country of the Russian mercenaries of the Wagner Group.
Spain is not part of these missions, but currently provides the largest contingent (500 military personnel, 24% of the total) of EUTM Mali. Spain has repeatedly insisted that any decision on this mission must be taken by the EU as a whole and has warned that a hasty withdrawal from Mali could degenerate into “another Afghanistan”, in addition to leaving an empty space that could be occupied by other powers, such as China or Russia, in this case through the Wagner Group.
