The German Review

The German Review

Share this post

The German Review
The German Review
Leaving Mali - the last foreign adventure?
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More

Leaving Mali - the last foreign adventure?

Jörg Luyken's avatar
Jörg Luyken
Nov 25, 2022
∙ Paid

Share this post

The German Review
The German Review
Leaving Mali - the last foreign adventure?
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Share

The Story

Germany announced this week that it is going to pull its troops out of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, currently its largest deployment beyond the borders of the EU.

The 1,200 Bundeswehr soldiers won’t leave immediately. A timeline for withdrawal by May 2024 ensures that they will remain in the Saharan country beyond the elections that are supposed to take place in February of that year.

For Mali, the decision increases the uncertainty around the future of the UN mission to secure the country against Islamist insurgents. In recent months France, the UK and other European countries decided to end their involvement in light of efforts by the country’s military junta to push them out.

In the summer the Malian government, which came to power in a 2020 putsch, repeatedly blocked Germany from changing out its troops while it also stopped issuing permits for the Bundeswehr to fly unmanned reconnaissance drones.

The junta’s decision to invite Russia’s notorious Wagner mercenaries in…

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to The German Review to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Jörg Luyken
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share

Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More