II. INtErNAtIoNAL rELAtIoNS
1. Mali panorama
Mali became independent from France in 1960, thereafter 23 years of military dictatorship period followed until the democratic election in 1992. The problems started in the 1990 years, when the nomadic tuareg8 of the north
3 Mali is among the 25 poorest countries. This country is dependent on gold mining and agricultural exports, for example cotton. According to World Bank data, the richest 20%
of Mali’s population controls 46% of total disposable income, while the poorest 20%
controls only 5.6%. BtI 2012 Mali Country report. The full article can be read: http://
www.bti-project.de/fileadmin/Inhalte/reports/2012/pdf/BtI%202012%20Mali.pdf (Downloaded: on 1st March 2013.)
4 More details: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13881371 MALI profile.
(Downloaded: on 7th March 2013.)
5 Mali is Africa’s third largest gold producer after South Africa and Ghana. Mali produced 53,7 t of gold in 2009. Gold mining in Mali http://www.mbendi.com/indy/ming/gold/
af/ml/p0005.htm (Downloaded: on 21st March 2013.)
6 BtI 2012 Mali Country report, pp. 25-27.
7 Gold Mining in Mali: http://www.mbendi.com/indy/ming/gold/af/ml/p0005.htm
8 Who are the tuareg people? The tuareg people are Berber-speakers, who trace their ancestry to the indigenous peoples of North Africa in ancient times. They share the same language family as the Berber-speakers of Morocco, Algeria, tunisia and Libya. tuaregs live primarily in Niger, Mali, Algeria and Libya, with diasporas in many surrounding countries. More details: http://tuaregcultureandnews.blogspot.hu/2008/07/who-are-tuareg-people.html (Downloaded: on 24th March 2013.)
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began an uprising over land and cultural rights. (There is an interesting and unique aspect connection with them, namely the issue of migration. So, the tuareg have not country of their own, but instead migrate throughout the western Sahel, crisscrossing the countries of Algeria, Burkina Faso, Libya, Niger, and Mali. Their popular culture has romanticized the indigo-blue veiled tuareg as outlaws, “Blue People”, hommes de nulle part – men from nowhere, and chevaliers du désert – knights of the desert…)9 After all they persist to this day, despite central government attempts at military and negotiated solutions. But the uprising became faster in 2007, and was
„exacerbated”10 by an influx of arms from the 2011 Libyan civil war. tuareg nationalists, alongside Islamist groups with links to al-Qaeda, seized control of the north in 2012.
So, that we can say, this is a long-standing problem in northern Mali. It emerged more recently in North African countries that saw Arab Spring uprisings, including Libya and tunisia, allowing militant groups to gain ground. As William Lawrence, North Africa director for International Crisis Group said: „right now we are not seeing as much an uptick in the strength of these groups as much as we are new areas that they are able to operate in because of the weakening of states.”11
No mention of the touch of national and international terrorists, djihadists and narco-traffickers over the population in the north keeps consolidating.
„The “sanctuarisation” of a terrorist zone, development of criminal economy, gross violations of human rights and the deterioration of the humanitarian situation are making the population increasingly vulnerable.”12 All these developments might have a spill-over effect on neighbouring countries and compromise lasting peace and development throughout the Sahel.
9 JALALI, Merise: tuareg migration: a critical component of crisis in the Sahel. online:
http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=953. (Downloaded: on 29th September 2013.)
10 Fact is that the Libyan crisis and the fall of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in october 2011 has been the disruptive factor that upset the extremely „delicate” geopolitical balance of the region.
11 Why the Sahara is not the ’new Afghanistan’ by Aidan Lewis. online: http://www.bbc.
co.uk/news/world-africa-21299153 (Downloaded: on 24th March 2013.)
12 Mission background. http://www.eutmmali.eu/?page_id=222 (Downloaded: on 29th September 2013.)
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A short history in 2012 without claim of being exhaustive – the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), in collaboration with the United States, Europe, the African Union, and other like-minded parties, with one voice approved on December 20, 2012 a resolution aiming to restore Mali’s territorial integrity by confronting terrorism and disrupting criminal networks in the region. The resolution authorized the creation of an African-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA), consisting of a 3,300-strong force, to be deployed by fall 2013. In light of this global strategy, AQIM13 (Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) has already accused France, a key mission partner, of unsafe the lives of six of its citizens who were kidnapped separately in Niger (2010) and in Mali (2011), rather than negotiating for their release. Additionally, MUJAo (Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa) abducted a seventh French national in Mali; and in Nigeria, the terrorist offshoot Ansaru kidnapped an eighth Frenchman.14 … the security situation in Mali is deteriorating even further.
And 2013 – in January 2013 Islamic forces advanced southward from their northern base and captured the key strategic city of Konna, dealing a major setback to the central government. Mali’s interim president, Dioncounda traore therefore declared a state of emergency and appealed to France for military support. An Ansar al Dine15 spokesman immediately condemned the request and declared: „…while Dioncounda asked for help from France, we ask for guidance from Allah and from other Muslims in our sub-region because this war has become a war against the crusader”.16 At the end France
13 Mali’s rebels: The five main Islamists groups in Mali are Ansar Dine, Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (Mujao), al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the Signed-in-Blood Battalion and the Islamic Movement for Azawad (IMA). More details: Mali crisis: key players http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17582909 (Downloaded: on 16th october 2013.)
14 More details: yonah Alexander: terrorism in North Africa & the Sahel in 2012 Global reach & Implications, ILI, February 2013, pp. 12-13. http://moroccoonthemove.com/
wp-content/uploads/2013/08/AlexanderterrorisminNASahel2012.pdf (Downloaded: on 16th october 2013.)
15 The two main Islamic militant movements operating in northern Mali are Ansar al Din (“Defenders of the Faith”) and Jama’at tawhid Wal Jihad fi Garbi Afriqqiya (“Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa,” or MUJWA). Ansar al Din was formed at the end of 2011 by Iyad Ag Ghali, a former tuareg rebel leader, who is often described as „a pragmatic opportunist”. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/ansar-al-din.
htm (Downloaded: on 18th october 2013.)
16 More details: ALEXANDEr, yonah: terrorism in North Africa & the Sahel in 2012 Global reach & Implications, ILI, February 2013, 12-13. http://moroccoonthemove.com/
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has sent about 550 troops to the Mopti and to Bamako, which is home to about 6,000 French nationals.17 The main problem was that the thousands have fled their home – more than half the northern population has fled south or across borders into neighbouring countries (11 January-3 February 2013, in neighhbouring countries due to conflict 21,986 refugees).18 This number continuously rises, see later.
3. … and what was the European Union’s response?
High representative Catherine Ashton, who chaired the Council meeting, stressed the „tremendous importance” of this mission to support Mali’s army.19 For now, it lacks the capacity to protect the country’s territorial integrity against the rebels who had invaded part of Mali. The 27 ministers endorsed the principle of the mission yet in December 2012. Its launch was accelerated following the surprise intervention by French forces on location on 11 January (operation Serval). Some 16 member states plus Norway will participate in the mission.20
on the 17 January 2013 the Council of the European Union established a Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) Military training Mission (EUtM Mali) to specifically train and reorganise the Malian Armed Forces (MAF), in order to contribute to the restoration of the country’s territorial integrity. From the beginning of Mali’s events Europe with the United States, has backed the French-led military intervention in Mali which since 11 January has driven al Qaeda-allied Islamist insurgents out of the main northern towns into remote mountains near Algeria’s border. The EU is providing a „500-strong multinational training force” that will give military instruction to Malian soldiers for an initial period of 15 months at an estimated cost of 12.3 million euros, $16.45 million,21 (nota bene each country finances its own troops – the salaris and living expenses).
wp-content/uploads/2013/08/AlexanderterrorisminNASahel2012.pdf (Downloaded: on 16th october 2013.)
17 Mali crisis: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21042561 BBC news Africa, Mali crisis. (Downloaded: on 25th March 2013.)
18 More details: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Mali_Snapshot_
en_20130206.pdf oCHA Humanitarian Snapshot. (Downloaded: on 25th March 2013.)
19 http://www.europolitics.info/europolitics/eu-launches-training-mission-in-mali-art348330-46.html Foreign Affairs Council. (Downloaded: on 21th March 2013.)
20 Ibidem
21 http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/20/us-mali-rebels-eu-idUSBrE91J1B320130220 French general urges EU to equip „impoverished” Mali army by Pascal Fletsher.
(Downloaded: on 25th March 2013.)
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Then the 27 (since 1 July, 2013 have been 28 members of the EU) member states launched the European Union mission to support the training and reorganisation of Mali’s armed forces, adopting the decision to this effect at the Foreign Affairs Council, on 18 February in Brussels.
The operation, launched in the framework of United Nations Security Council resolution 2085 (2012), forms an integral part of the EU’s comprehensive approach to the situation in Mali and the Sahel. In more general conclusions on Mali, the Council states that „the EU supports the efforts of the international community to achieve stability and security in Mali, most notably operation Serval and the African-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA), and reaffirms its commitment to the fight against the threat of terrorism”.22 The EU also reiterates its „full support for the implementation of the road map for transition in Mali” with a view to „free and transparent elections” this year and the creation of a National Dialogue and reconciliation Commission.
The Council welcomes the gradual resumption of EU development aid and states that the Union will maintain its humanitarian commitment to the populations affected by the crisis, both in Mali and in the neighbouring countries. The ministers nevertheless add that „the EU remains concerned by the potential risks to regional and international security posed by the crisis in Mali. It particularly reiterates its concern regarding international trafficking, illicit financial flows and their ties with extremist groups in the Sahel”.
4. EUTM in Mali – Mission description 4.1. Political Control and Strategic Direction
Under the responsibility of the Council and of the High representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Political and Security Committee (PSC) shall exercise the political control and strategic direction of the EU military mission. The PSC will, at regular intervals, receive reports from the chairman of the EU Military Committee (EUMC) regarding the conduct of the EU military mission, and will report to the Council.
Generally speaking, the situation increases the threat to the safety of EU citizens in the Sahel (hostage-taking, attacks) as well as in Europe, notably through the influence of extremists and terrorists networks over the diasporas, training, and logistical support from Al-Qaida affiliates in the north of Mali.
22 Ibidem
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It also threatens the EU’s strategic interests, including the security of energy supply and the fight against human and drugs trafficking. European intelligence agencies have already crossed attempted attacks on the European territory.
In order to overcome these threats and address these challenges, the Malian authorities have requested the EU’s support. The EU’s strategic objective, as expressed in its Strategy for Security and Development in the Sahel (see above), remains the promotion of stability, connecting security, development and governance through the integrated and coordinated use of all relevant EU instruments in order to address the root causes of insecurity, under-development and conflicts at local, national and regional levels.
So a CSDP mission is a very significant part of this EU global approach to restore the state’s authority throughout Mali and bring a durable solution to the current crisis.23
4.2. Military direction
Brigadier General Bruno Guibert24 from France has been appointed as EUtM Mali Mission Commander. The EU Military Committee will monitor the proper execution of the EU military mission conducted under the responsibility of the Mission Commander. The chairman of the EUMC will act as the primary point of contact with the Mission Commander.25
EUtM Mali firstly was commanded by French General François Lecointre and from the first moment already will include a staff of around 500 (200 trainers from France, the UK, Ireland and 19 other countries26 and has an initial brief to train 2,000 Malians, so to create four new battalions capable of defending the West African country) as I have already mentioned it. The headquarters is in Bamako, while training is to take place in Koulikoro. An initial group of 70 troops arrived in Mali, on 8 February, and military instructors will be deployed by the end of March. The British and Irish troops
23 EUtM in Mali: Mission backround http://www.eutmmali.eu/?page_id=222 (Downloaded:
on 14th october 2013.)
24 See more at http://eeas.europa.eu/csdp/documents/pdf/cv_bruno_guibert_en.pdf (Downloaded: on 4th october 2013.)
25 EEAS HoME http://www.eeas.europa.eu/csdp/missions-and-operations/eutm-mali/
mission-description/index_en.htm (Downloaded: on 4th october 2013.)
26 Sizes per countries: „France 207, Germany 71, Spain 54, UK 40, Czech republic 34, Belgium 25, Poland 20, Italy 19, Sweden 14, Finland 12, Hungary 10, Ireland 8, Austria 7, Greece 4, Bulgaria 4, Latvia 2, Slovénia 4, Estonia 2, Lithuania 2, Portugal 1, romania 1 et Luxembourg 1.” http://www.eutmmali.eu/?p=211 (Downloaded: on 17th october 2013.)
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are largely carrying out infantry training; the Greeks handle intelligence classes; and Germany has built a field hospital at the training camp at Koulikoro, about 60km north of Bamako. In April 2013 the first specialist trainers arrived in Mali.
The multinational force was born. But who is responsible for what? A few examples: the first of them was the Hungarian team, numbering 6 in total.
They are in charge of teaching the elite shooters. They arrived in Bamako along with 4 Greek intelligence trainers. 15 Spanish soldiers will be responsible for instructing of the commando units of the Waraba battalion. The Spanish platoon of the force protection. The contingent of 10 Polish trainers and all of their material. These soldiers will be in charge of the logistics training. 17 German trainers, namely, sapper specialists. They were accompanied by 2 Latvian Commanding officers who will be reinforcing the Command team at Koulikoro camp.27
The main and specific tasks during the training are including on command and control, logistics and human resources as well as on international humanitarian law, the protection of civilians and human rights. The mission will not be involved in combat operations.
The training Mission long term aims to build cohesion among the soldiers who are of different ages and ranks and do not know each other as they have been hand-picked for the course from across the country by the Malian armed forces. Moreover the soldiers are ethnically mixed – both pale and dark-skinned – but the „Malian authorities have not given details of how they were selected”.28 Amnesty International and Human rights Watch say that Malian soldiers have been guilty of human rights crimes against civilians they suspect of having hidden rebels. The EUtM says29 it has asked civil society groups to come forward with names of any soldiers suspected of abuses.
The EU has indeed been concerned by the deteriorating political, security, humanitarian and human rights situation in the Sahel region since early 2000.
It was earlier than the Libyan crisis, but was further aggraveted by its consequences. Since the beginning of the crisis in Mali, the Council has repeated the EU’s purposes to accelerate and enhance the implementation of this Strategy in order to help tackle the regional consequences of this crisis.
It was a useful tool to enhance the coherence of the EU approach to the crisis, with a particular focus on Mauritania, Niger and Mali. The EU has
27 More details: http://www.eutmmali.eu/?m=201304 Arrival of the specialist trainers on 15th April 2013. (Downloaded: on 14th october 2013.)
28 Alex Duval Smith’s article, BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22391857 (Downloaded: on 14th october 2013.)
29 Ibidem
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allocated over € 660 million to the region under the 10th European Development Fund (2007-2013).30 In the framework of its Sahel strategy, the EU has further mobilised additional financial resources for development and security related projects worth € 167 million along the four lines of action of the strategy:
• Development, good governance and internal conflict resolution;
• Political and diplomatic action;
• Security and the rule of law; and
• countering violent extremism and radicalisation (this latter aspect is the main reason for the Mission).
Since fighting emerged in early 2012 in northern Mali, groups of various affiliations – most of them with well documented links to Al-Qaida – are expanding their influence and establishing safe havens for terrorist and criminal activities. „Violence has forced 436,000 Malians to flee their homes and further aggravated the food crisis. More than 18 million people are at risk of hunger throughout the Sahel region. In this context, the European Commission committed € 172 million under its humanitarian aid budget and launched an international partnership for resilience in the Sahel region (Global Alliance for resilience initiative, AGIr).”31
the EU-led Global Alliance for resilience Initiative was officially launched on 6 December 2012 in ouagadougou32 and is shaping up to be a major long term strategy for building resilience in the fragile Sahel region.33
In response to the chronic food insecurity in the Sahel the Alliance’s objective is to promote greater resilience by creating synergies between the emergency response and long-term development strategies. In the Sahel region is Mali and the total number of Malian refugees in the surrounding countries is estimated to be 146,059 on 17th January, 2013.34 But the number has increased already in May (see below):
30 Factsheet: The EU and the Sahel http://www.eeas.europa.eu/csdp/documents/pdf/132802.
pdf (Downloaded: on 8th october 2013.)
31 Factsheet the EU and the Sahel, more details: http://www.eeas.europa.eu/csdp/documents/
pdf/132802.pdf (Downloaded: on 8th october 2013.)
32 ouagadougou is the capital city of Burkina Faso.
33 SAHEL-AGIr: http://ec.europa.eu/echo/policies/resilience/agir_en.htm (Downloaded:
on 8th october 2013.)
34 The MAP (facts) can be found: http://ec.europa.eu/echo/images/photos/aid/20130122_
mali_situationmap.jpg (Downloaded: on 10th october 2013.)
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Malian refugees35
5. Step by step towards stability in Mali
The Foreign Affairs Council adopted the following conclusion in Brussels, even on the 18th February 2013: „The European Union supports the efforts of the international community to achieve stability and security in Mali, most notably operation Serval and the African-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA), and reaffirms its commitment to the fight against the threat of terrorism.”36 It can be confirmed that by summer 2013, according to French President Hollande, about half of the nearly 4,000 soldiers, who have been in Mali since January, will be back in France. French troops, together with soldiers from ECoWAS and Chad, have driven the Islamist groups out of the big cities of northern Mali. Since then the French parliament has already decided to leave 1,000 soldiers in Mali until the end of 2013.37 This work is helped by other things, such step by step Mali will be closer towards stability.
Thus the first step was when the agreement was born between the Malian Government and tuareg rebels that paves the way for inclusive peace talks
Thus the first step was when the agreement was born between the Malian Government and tuareg rebels that paves the way for inclusive peace talks