mali. No European soldiers engaged alongside the French (Maj)

(BRUXELLES2) The presence of European military elements alongside the French during the counter-offensive in Sédaré was firmly denied by the Minister of Defense today answering a question from B2. " It is a bilateral operation between France and Mali, a response from France to a request for help from the Malian government. There is no involvement of any other force. » If there was any doubt, he repeated this assertion in relation to a German participation. Le Figaro, in fact, reported yesterday on German troops, attaching to the article a graphic clearly showing the German flag. An article which had caused trouble in Berlin, as my colleague Thomas Wiegold (from augengeradeaus). The “answer is very clear, it is no”. On the other hand, what he perfectly confirmed was the coordination, at the political level, with the other capitals. “I had an interview yesterday with my German, British, Spanish and Italian colleagues. They all gave me full political support. But what we do, we do (at the national level)”.

Be careful not to confuse

Apparently there seems to be some confusion among some of my colleagues between the French offensive operation (Serval) and the European training mission for the Malian army (EUTM Mali) which is being prepared. If certain "precursor" elements (a few officers responsible for preparing the mission) have already arrived on the spot in Bamako according to our information, this European mission (in which France is participating) has a long-term objective - to reconstitute the Malian army - and has no direct action on the ground. The French operation has a more short-term objective: to contain the forces of the north, and to push them back, to secure all the Malian cities of the south (while waiting for reinforcements from ECOWAS). Read also: Mali: three operations in one

technical cooperation

Despite everything, it does not seem that the French acted in total solo. They seem to have benefited from technical cooperation, notably American, as the officers confirmed to us. But " that's up to the Americans (or those who participated) to confirm. It is not up to the French minister to do so” explained an expert of the file.