Mali's ruling junta said on the evening of Tuesday May 3 that the French anti-jihadist force Barkhane no longer had a legal basis to operate in the country, after Bamako's denunciation of military cooperation agreements.
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After months of animosity, the Malian authorities dominated by the military who came to power by force in August 2020 announced on Monday that they were ending the 2014 defense cooperation treaty, as well as the 2013 and 2020 agreements setting the legal framework for the presence of Barkhane and the grouping of European special forces Takuba, initiated by France.
Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop reiterated Tuesday evening on national television that the rupture of the 2014 treaty would take effect in six months, but that that of the agreements on Barkhane and Takuba applied immediately, as allowed according to him by the texts. international.
"
So, as of May 2, the agreement concerning Barkhane and the agreement concerning Takuba cease to produce their effect vis-à-vis Mali (...) and that means that from that moment there is no legal basis for France to operate on Malian soil
,” said Abdoulaye Diop.
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The minister recalled that Barkhane was already in the process of withdrawing from Mali, and declared that France could continue to organize this disengagement.
But "
everything that is done in the territory of a sovereign state must be discussed and agreed with the state that is in place which, in a completely responsible way, will ensure that things are done in good order but also do so within the time that the (Malian) government wishes adequate
,” he said.
The French authorities on Tuesday deemed “
unjustified
” the denunciation of the agreements.
They also disputed that the denunciation of the agreements on the presence of Barkhane and Takuba can come into force now.