Pistorius expects complete withdrawal from West African crisis country by mid-December
Federal Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius expects the Bundeswehr to withdraw completely from the West African crisis country of Mali by mid-December. As soon as the last aircraft have returned to Germany, there will also be a tribute to the soldiers involved, said Pistorius during a government questioning in the Bundestag on Wednesday. Following this "small-scale appeal to returnees", there will be another major event on the mission in January.
The last few months have been "very challenging" for the Bundeswehr, said Pistorius. The "sudden expulsion" of the UN mission Minusma by the Malian military junta by the end of the year had "surprised everyone". The Bundeswehr's plans were then immediately adjusted and the redeployment to Germany was initiated. "We will (...) probably be finished with the withdrawal of our contingent, including equipment, by mid-December."
When asked what the Bundeswehr's ten-year deployment in Mali had achieved, Pistorius said that, as usual, this would be assessed after the end of the mission. The question is what would have happened if the Bundeswehr and Minusma had not stabilized the country since 2013. "Yes, it has achieved something," said Pistorius, but the success of foreign and security policy "cannot be calculated in cents and euros".
The West African country of Mali has been the scene of a rebellion by Islamist extremists for years, which began in the north of the country in 2012 and later spread to the neighboring countries of Niger and Burkina Faso. Since 2013, Minusma has been tasked with helping to pacify the country and protect the civilian population. The military junta, which has been in power since a coup in 2020, then surprisingly demanded an immediate end to the UN mission in mid-June.
Source: www.ntv.de
