EU suspends its military training mission in Mali
The European Union agreed on Monday to "suspend" its military training mission in Mali, given the worsening security conditions in the country and the presence of the Wagner group, the Russian mercenary company.
"We have decided to suspend some of the training courses of our EUTM training mission in Mali that have been destined for units of the Malian armed forces," the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, told a press conference at the end of a meeting of European foreign ministers.
"Unfortunately, events are forcing us to do so. There are insufficient guarantees, on the part of the transitional authorities, about the non-interference of the Wagner company, which is beginning to be responsible for the sad events that have left dozens of deaths in Mali," he continued.
The head of European diplomacy also justified the decision by massacres such as the one in Moura (central Mali) on 27 March, which, according to various sources, was committed by Malian soldiers, supported by foreign agents.
According to the NGO Human Rights Watch, nearly 300 people were killed, a figure that the Malian military junta, which has ruled the country since last year's coup d'état, put at 203.
"We cannot be collaborating with something that we can very much regret. What happened in Moura, we cannot be training soldiers who could be taking part in this type of thing", Borrell pointed out, who asked the Malian authorities to allow the United Nations mission in Mali (MINUSMA) to investigate what happened.
The former Spanish minister assured that the EU will have to "go to the neighbouring countries" of Mali, because "the Sahel will continue to be a priority", despite suspending the EUTM mission, established in 2013 to help combat jihadist terrorism.
However, the high representative said that the EU will continue to advise Malian soldiers on issues such as "the law of war, because the law also governs in times of war and this is not done by divine inspiration, someone has to explain what can and cannot be done".
The EU continues to "wait" for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to reach an agreement with the military junta to call elections and restore constitutional order.
