Mali

[…] The full consequences of MINUSMA’s rapid withdrawal remain to be seen, but some takeaways from the Mali case can already be drawn out.

[…] In planning the MINUSMA exit over the next six months, there is a risk that the UN will become overly focused on the technical aspects of withdrawal, expending enormous energy and resources on the complicated logistics of moving a billion-dollar operation out. This would be a mistake. Instead, the UN should create a new strategic moment to influence Mali’s trajectory positively, treating the exit as a leverage point. 

The Security Council on Friday unanimously approved the complete withdrawal of UN peacekeeping forces in Mali, although it will take six months for the final “blue helmets” to depart.+

This report investigates the creation and application of the Mobile Task Force (MTF) within MINUSMA, the UN's peace operation in Mali. Thereby, the study aims to increase the understanding of rationales and conditions for mobility in peace operations with a high threat level and robust mandates.

On 16 June, Bamako asked the UN Security Council to withdraw the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). In this Q&A, Crisis Group experts Jean-Hervé Jézéquel and Ibrahim Maïga look at the reasons behind the Malian authorities’ decision as well as its consequences.

Mali’s constitution was revised in a referendum on Friday, with an overwhelming 97 percent of voters supporting the changes. This marks a significant stride towards the ruling junta’s objective of reinstating civilian rule. The amended constitution grants more power to the president, fueling speculation about Colonel Assimi Goita, the junta’s leader, potentially running for president.

The United States regrets a decision by Mali's interim military authorities to ask a United Nations peacekeeping force to leave the country, the State Department said on Monday, calling for an "orderly and responsible" drawdown of the mission. Mali's Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop made the request during a U.N. Security Council meeting on Friday, citing a "crisis of confidence" between Malian authorities and the decade-long U.N. mission known as MINUSMA.

On Friday 16th June, Mali’s Foreign Minister, Abdoulaye Diop, told the UN Security Council, that its 13,000-strong stabilization mission (MINUSMA) should leave without delay. MINUSMA has tried to stabilize Mali for a decade, but Diop’s demand comes after a long period of increasingly difficult relations between the country’s junta and the UN.

head of its peacekeeping mission in the country, MINUSMA, said in a briefing to the Security Council on Friday. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin and the head of Mali's junta Colonel Assimi Goita discussed security and economic relations between their two countries, both sides reported on Wednesday.