Mali: the French ambassador summoned by Bamako after Macron’s criticism – archyworldys

Bamako summoned, Tuesday, October 5, the French ambassador after the remarks judged “Regrettable” of President Emmanuel Macron against the ruling military junta.

“The Minister invited the French authorities to restraint, avoiding value judgments”, commented the Malian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement. The text castigates the “Unfriendly and derogatory remarks” Emmanuel Macron and expresses a “Strong protest against these regrettable remarks”.

Emmanuel Macron called on Tuesday for this “Let the state come back” in Mali, in a context of strong tensions with the Sahelian country, where France is in the process of reducing its military system.

“The State must return with its justice, its education, its police everywhere, in particular in Mali”, where entire swathes of territory are left to fend for themselves in the face of jihadists, inter-community tensions and trafficking, he said.

“Focus on the essentials”

Before that, the French president described last Thursday as ” shame “ the accusations of“Abandonment in mid-flight” from Mali via France brought by the transitional prime minister, Choguel Kokalla Maïga, to the United Nations platform.

Malian diplomacy, in its press release, calls on France to “To concentrate on the essential, in particular the fight against terrorism in the Sahel”.

In the Sahel, where it has intervened militarily since 2013 against jihadist groups, France undertook in June to reorganize its military system, with a reduction of its personnel by 2023 to around 3,000 men, against more than 5,000 today. hui.

September 24, France lost a 52^e soldier in the Sahel since 2013, with the death of Master Corporal Maxime Blasco, killed in action in the region of Gossi, near the border between Mali and Burkina Faso.

Paris sees its influence contested in Mali, in particular by Moscow. The Malian junta in power plans to use the services of Russian paramilitaries from the sulphurous private company Wagner. Now a presence of these “Mercenaries” would be ” incompatible “ with the maintenance of the French military presence in Mali, keeps warning Paris.