"There is no French disengagement, I want to start by re-establishing untruths".
Florence Parly did not appreciate Mali accusing France of "abandonment".
“When we have 5,000 soldiers and we disengage from three rights-of-way, and we intend to leave several thousand more, when we deploy state-of-the-art armored vehicles in the Sahel (...), 'is not the normal attitude of a country which intends to leave, argued the Minister of the Armed Forces Monday evening during a conference in front of students of Sciences-Po Paris.
Saturday in New York, before the United Nations (UN), Malian Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maïga accused France of an "abandonment in flight" with the reorganization of its military presence in the Sahel, and thus defended Bamako's decision to initiate discussions with the Russian private paramilitary company Wagner.
"It's a lot of hypocrisy, it's a lot of bad faith, a lot of indecency"
“It's a lot of hypocrisy, it's a lot of bad faith, a lot of indecency especially because these comments were made on Saturday, September 25. But on Friday September 24, a 52nd French soldier gave his life to fight terrorism in the Sahel, ”said Florence Parly, referring to the death of Maxime Blasco. "I have the impression that the date" of February 27, 2022 on which the Malian authorities, who came to power through a coup in August 2020, committed to organize elections to return power to civilians, "does doesn't suit them perfectly, and they want to make it last. But from there to wiping your feet on the blood of French soldiers, it's unacceptable, ”she said. Sunday,Choguel Kokalla Maïga said the elections could be postponed for a few weeks or a few months.
Paris undertook in June to reorganize its military system in the Sahel, notably by leaving the northernmost bases of Mali and by planning to reduce its troops in the region by 2023 to 2,500-3,000 men, against more than 5,000 today. 'hui. "The plan to leave Kidal, Tessalit and Timbuktu (...) was drawn up with the heads of state of the G5 zone" (G5 Sahel: Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad), declared the commander of the French Barkhane force, General Laurent Michon, during a trip to Nouakchott, Mauritania. He stressed that the peacekeepers of the UN Mission (Minusma) and the Malian army remained present in these three places.
On Sunday, the head of the Malian government said the elections could be postponed by a few weeks or a few months.
"It is imperative to respect" the timetable set by the junta before the international community, declared Monday, in a video pre-recorded and broadcast to the UN General Assembly, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian.