Hommam Al Nassim 
The European Union military mission to train Mali’s armed forces has announced the end of its 11-year presence in Mali, following Brussels’ announcement last week that the mission’s mandate would not be extended.
The EU mission to Mali was established in 2013 to train Mali’s armed forces to tackle terrorist attacks that have ravaged the country since 2012.
At its peak, the mission included about 700 troops from some 20 European countries, but its number has declined significantly due to diplomatic tensions between Bamako and its Western partners.
On the eighth of May, the European Commission announced its decision not to extend the mandate of the mission, due to “the evolution of the political and security situation in Mali.”
Mali is under military rule after two consecutive coups in 2020 and 2021, and the military has promised to hold elections in February, but the military postponed the elections indefinitely, citing the deteriorating security situation as a result of extremist attacks.
Since 2020, Mali’s military has taken steps to promote a rupture particularly with France, a former colonial power, and shifted toward cooperation with Russia.
The two neighboring countries, Burkina Faso and Niger, have witnessed similar problems to those facing Mali, including military overthrowing the existing governments and pushing France to withdraw and seek new and fruitful cooperation with Russia.
The official ceremony to mark the end of the training mission was held on Friday at its headquarters in the capital, Bamako. Since its inception in 2013, the mission has lost two soldiers, one Portuguese who was killed in an attack on a camp in Bamako in 2017, and the other Spanish who died near the town of Sevare in 2018. The mission trained 20,000 Malian soldiers during its presence in the country, according to mission figures.
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