New York, Geneva (epd). After ten years, the United Nations blue helmet mission MINUSMA in Mali is coming to an end. The UN Security Council decided on Friday in New York to discontinue the peacekeeping mission with immediate effect, according to the French news broadcaster RFI.
The Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution and stipulated that the blue helmets should withdraw from the West African country by December 31. The Security Council’s mandate for the mission expired on Friday anyway.
The Malian military government has been increasingly critical of the UN mission for months and is instead seeking proximity to Russia. In mid-June, Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop called for the immediate end of Minusma.
The federal government had already announced the withdrawal of the Bundeswehr from Mali last November due to repeated obstacles to the mission. The Bundestag last extended the mandate until the end of May 2024. Around 1,100 German soldiers are currently involved in the Minusma operation. The majority is stationed in Gao in northern Mali, with a small portion at the Niamey air hub in neighboring Niger.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said last Wednesday that the Bundeswehr could withdraw within days in the event of an acute threat. But one is far away from such a scenario. He assumes an orderly deduction.