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By Emmanuel Ukaobasi
The republic of Mali is now the latest play ground for the self-serving interests of foreign powers. The European Union (EU) recently imposed targeted sanctions on five senior members of Mali’s transitional government, including the Prime Minister, Choguel Maiga, accusing them of working to obstruct and undermine the transition from military to civilian rule. “The five designated people are subject to a travel ban, which prevents them from entering or transiting through EU territories and an asset freeze,” a statement from EU states said.
Mali since 2012 has struggled to contain an extremist insurgency. Outside military support, the EU has so far committed 2.6 billion EUR in development assistance to the Sahel countries through the Sahel Alliance for agriculture, basic public services and governance for 2020-2022 period. Its partnership with Mali and other Sahelian states seems to have reinforced authoritarian trends in the region, eroding the very bonds between governments and the citizens it professes to strengthen. The result is the coup in Mali and other Sahelian states.
Angered by the Malian coup, France suspended its joint military operations with Malian forces while “awaiting guarantees” that civilians return to power. But tired of years of insecurity under the nose of French military operations, as well as its advisory missions, the Malian government had sought for mercenaries to help out. But France in defense of its interests quickly warned Mali against a deal with mercenaries. A spokesperson for the Malian defense ministry said his country wanted to “diversify its relationship” on security grounds.
Instead of hiring mercenaries ,the French President, Emmanuel Macron, called on Mali’s military to restore state authority in large areas of the country. ‘It’s not the role of the French army to fill in for the non-work, if I may describe it, of the Malian state,’ he told the French media. Mali’s prime Minister in response , affirmed the sabotage of France when he revealed that he had evidence that France was training “terrorist” groups operating in the country. Maiga said French troops had created an enclave in Kidal, a town in the desert region of northern Mali, and handed it over to a terrorist group known as Ansar al-Din, allegedly linked to al-Qaeda. Mali’s Foreign Minister said France was not defending democracy and was angry only because “we have hurt their interest” as Mali is out to protect its sovereignty. Denmark reportedly sent 105 military personnel to Mali on January 18 this year to join the European special forces mission, known as Takuba, that was set up to help Mali tackle armed groups. It claimed its troops had deployed after a “clear invitation from Mali” which is not true according to officials of Mali.
Six days later, the Malian government called on Denmark to immediately withdraw its contingent of Special Forces to the anger of France which had staked much on “Europeanizing” its Sahel intervention. The Malian government subsequently lashed out at Paris, telling it to stop interfering and to keep its “colonial reflexes to itself”. Meanwhile, Norway, Portugal, Hungary, Romania and Lithuania are being rallied by the EU to send troops to tiny Mali under the beguiling guise of defending democracy but the ultimate goal is actually securing the natural resources of Mali.
Just as Mali is now in the spotlight of international political chess game, so has the topic of Crimea peninsular returned to the international arena. The inauguration of the Crimean Platform established by Ukraine was certainly the largest international event on the Dnieper in recent history of the country. Yet leaders of the most important western countries did not attend the event because of their enlightened self-interest. According to the Head of the Ukraine Parliament ,‘ the Crimea Platform is not yet another summit but an active mechanism deployed to serve Ukraine and uphold the rule of law in the modern world.’ Apart from the Baltic states, Georgia and Molodova, no state of the former Soviet Union took part in the Ukraine initiative. China, Arab, Latin American countries and Israel were equally absent. The world reportedly noticed that the former German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and President Macron did not particularly strive to participate in this event or in the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence on August 24 last year.
During her visit to Kiev, the state capital, Merkel reportedly lowered the rank of the German delegation to the inauguration of the Crimean Platform. She explained that the Head of Diplomacy, Heiko Maas, urgently needed to go to Afghanistan. Berlin was however, represented by its the minister of Economic Affairs and Energy. Apart from Poland and Latvia, only Moldavia, Slovenia and Finland sent their Presidents to Kiev. The prime ministers of Romania, Georgia, Croatia and Sweden were however present. While France was represented by the Head of its ministry of Foreign Affairs, the United States was represented by its secretary for Energy. Britain sent its minister of Defense and Canada, her Ambassador.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Deputy Secretary-General, Mircea Geoana, underscored at the Crimea summit that “ the security situation in Crimea, eastern Ukraine, the Black and Azov Seas affects us all”. On Mali, Michael Gova, a military Historian and former Colonel in the French military rationalizes why the EU led by France would continue intervening in the Sahel when he told Euro news that ’’ We, Europeans have a collective responsibility to secure the Southern flank of Europe. It is essential not to allow the Sahel and more broadly Africa to become a shelter and exposed area for the terrorist groups.” But the continuous EU messaging about the centrality of the Sahel and eastern Ukraine to Europe’s own security may serve domestic publics, but also gives leverage to Sahelian and eastern Ukrainian elites whose political futures and fortunes have become intertwined with European Support. This undermines the EU’s ability to advance the necessary governance reforms for long-term stability of both regions.
Ukaobasi writes from Umuahia
