Stabilization in Mali, a new challenge for the 27
(BRUSSELS2) The situation in Mali should be discussed by the 27 Foreign Ministers during their meeting on Monday (23 April) in Luxembourg. Discussions are currently projects on the nature of the support that the EU could provide to the transition in the country. The subject will also be on the agenda of the COPS - the political and security committee - this Friday (April 20). The objective is for the Europeans to provide all possible support to ECOWAS. Thus, if necessary, African forces already engaged in international UN missions already deployed in West Africa (Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, etc.) could be redeployed to Mali, according to our information. As Catherine Ashton, the High Representative, pointed out during an intervention in the European Parliament this week, a regional approach is necessary: “ We are already in close contact with ECOWAS on their proposals to provide support to the security sector, particularly in the North. But we also need to work closely with all neighboring countries – Mauritania, Niger, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast ". It requires " a careful reflection on what could be the nature of such a mission and how to coordinate it with the necessary reinforcement of the National Army of Mali and the gendarmerie ».
"The North must not become a lawless zone"
The High Representative affirmed that it should be left to the Malian authorities to define the needs. " It will be up to the caretaker government to decide what support, including military, they want, and from whom. "it is in no one's interest that the North" does not effectively become a lawless zone ". In the same spirit, the Europeans could speed up the deployment of their mission to assist the security forces in Niger, to avoid further destabilization.
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