Military coup in Mali: Macron demands that power be "returned to civilians"

At the end of June, during the G5 Sahel summit in Mauritania, in the presence of Emmanuel Macron, the Malian crisis was already a source of concern. Since the coup d'état perpetrated by the army on Tuesday August 18 and the arrest of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, known as "IBK", pushed to resign by the military, Paris says it has "a legitimate concern". "It is the security of the Malians in question, but also that of the Sahel, and ours in question," blows a diplomatic source. Suffice to say that the Head of State is closely monitoring the development of the situation.

His phone has been heating up for two days. Twice, Emmanuel Macron called IBK on Tuesday, before his arrest, to take the pulse of the situation. Or, on several occasions, the Nigerien president, Mahamadou Issoufou, with whom he was already in regular contact after the bloody attack that killed six French aid workers and two Nigeriens ten days ago in his country. The President of the Republic, who says "his full support for the ongoing mediation efforts of ECOWAS (Community of West African States)", also spoke with the Ivorian Alassane Ouattara, the Senegalese Macky Sall ... An interview with the King of Morocco Mohamed VI is also scheduled. He could also speak to Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

The meeting of the extraordinary summit of the European Union on Belarus, this Wednesday, gave him the opportunity to take stock of other European leaders who have called for an “immediate return to the rule of law” in Mali. The United Nations Security Council met urgently to further increase the pressure of the international community on the junta.

A still weakened French strategy

Paris, which is walking on eggshells, campaigns for "a political solution within the framework of the Malian constitution". With, in watermark, this "priority", "to ensure that calm is maintained" in this very poor country, regularly shaken by ethnic or social unrest. There is the possibility of continuing the fight against terrorism in the Sahel. The advance of the jihadists in northern Mali had led France to intervene militarily. Seven years later, it deploys 5,000 troops to the region as part of the Barkhane force. Without much prospect of improving the situation.

In Mali, power must be returned to civilians and milestones must be laid for the return to constitutional order. President Keïta, his prime minister and members of the government must be released without delay and their safety guaranteed.

Admittedly, the ousted Malian president's ability to advance security in his country left more than one skeptic. But with this coup, it is France's strategy that is once again weakened. Experts even evoke, after the events of Tuesday, "a return to square one", even "a setback". The task of the French head of state in this powder region of Africa has become even more complicated this week. “The fight against terrorist groups and the defense of democracy and the rule of law are inseparable. To get out of it is to provoke instability and weaken our fight. This is not acceptable ”, hammered Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday evening, calling for the release of IBK and demanding that power be“ returned to civilians ”.