Air France suspends flights with Mali, EU sanctions to come in addition to France

Published on : 01/13/2022 – 08:14

Cascading sanctions for Mali. Air France announced on Wednesday January 12 the suspension of its links with Mali “with immediate effect”, in the wake of Paris – which followed in the footsteps of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS ) – to sanction the junta.

“Pursuant to the decisions of the French authorities, Air France is suspending its flights to and from Mali with immediate effect and until further notice,” the French company told AFP. “As a result, flight AF4142 of January 12 providing the Paris (CDG) -Bamako (BKO) -Nouakchott (NKC) -Paris (CDG) route and flight AF4141 Bamako (BKO) -Paris (CDG) are canceled”, according to the same source.

In addition, “flights to and from Bamako scheduled for the following days will also be canceled. Air France is monitoring the situation in real time and will keep its customers informed of the possibilities of rerouting once the suspension has been lifted”, added the company, stressing that “the customers concerned [étaient] informed individually “.

The ECOWAS decreed, on Sunday, the closure of the borders with Mali and a commercial and financial embargo, harshly sanctioning the junta’s plan to continue to lead the country for several years.

France and the United States, important partners of Mali, have followed in the wake of ECOWAS. President Emmanuel Macron assured that France and the European Union, of which his country holds the rotating presidency, supported the “very clear and firm position” of ECOWAS in the face of “the junta’s abuses”.

“The situation in Mali and the Sahel is an African and European affair”

Under French impulse, the EU will take sanctions against Mali, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian assured AFP on Wednesday.

“We are going to offer to support African decisions, to take them over for some of them,” said the French foreign minister in an interview with AFP. “We will discuss it in Brest tomorrow (Thursday)” at an informal meeting of European Defense and Foreign Ministers, “but the most likely assumption is that this will be followed,” he assured .

The ECOWAS harshly sanctioned the junta’s plan to continue to lead the country for several years, instead of organizing presidential and legislative elections as promised on February 27. In return, the junta called on the Malians on Tuesday to demonstrate against these sanctions on Friday, while saying it was open to dialogue.

“The situation in Mali and the Sahel is an African and European affair, it is no longer a Franco-Malian affair”, argued Jean-Yves Le Drian, referring to the participation of 10 European countries in the grouping of special forces Takuba deployed in Mali at the initiative of France.

President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that France and the EU supported the “unprecedented sanctions” taken Sunday by West African leaders against the ruling junta in Mali, and had opened the way for European sanctions.

“The junta is trying to fool all of its partners”

Besides the West African leaders and the Europeans, the Algerian neighbor has also encouraged the Malian military to “take a responsible and constructive attitude”. “Algeria takes a moderate position, of facilitator, we note it with interest”, reacted Jean-Yves Le Drian, who also recalled the meeting “in the coming weeks” of the sixty members of the Coalition for the Sahel “to take a collective position”.

“The junta is trying to fool all of its partners. There is a headlong rush, a confirmed call for an outside militia (Russian mercenaries from the paramilitary company Wagner, editor’s note), and the transition schedule is quite right. unacceptable, “insisted the head of French diplomacy. “It is now up to the junta to assume its responsibilities. Otherwise, it runs the risk of seeing this country be asphyxiated.”

France, whose thousands of soldiers are fighting against the jihadists in the Sahel, has sought in vain to dissuade Bamako from using the services of the Russian group Wagner. More and more Russian instructors have been deployed in recent weeks, especially in Timbuktu, according to Malian military officials.

At the end of nearly nine years of presence, France undertook in June to reorganize its military system by leaving its three most northern bases in Mali (Tessalit, Kidal and Timbuktu) to refocus around Gao and Ménaka, on the borders from Niger and Burkina Faso. This plan foresees a reduction of the workforce, from 5,000 at present, to 2,500 – 3,000 by 2023.

Asked about the capacity of the French army to continue its activity in Mali in this tense and uncertain context, Jean-Yves Le Drian kicked in touch: “It is up to Mali to take the necessary measures so that the transition can take place as soon as possible and that we can continue to fight terrorism together “.

With AFP