Mali says it is not bound by the one-year deadline to leave ECOWAS. Mali considers itself released from its obligations towards the Economic Community of West African States after the announcement of its withdrawal.
The junta in power in Bamako announced on January 28 the withdrawal of Mali fromECOWAS, at the same time as the military regimes in place in neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger with which it forged an alliance. The military regimes continue to denounce the instrumentalization made by France and their withdrawal is the latest act of rupture to date.