Mali: meeting Assimi Goïta-Emmanuel Macron in Bamako on December 20

French President Emmanuel Macron and President of the Malian transition Assimi Goïta.

© AP - RFI editing

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

The French president will meet Colonel Assimi Goïta, president of the Malian transition.

This is the first time that the two heads of state will speak face-to-face after several telephone exchanges.

The meeting is scheduled for Monday, December 20 in Bamako, according to information from

Jeune Afrique

, which RFI was able to confirm with the Elysee.

There will be no shortage of topics for discussion, with Emmanuel Macron.

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It is in a tense diplomatic context that

Assimi Goïta

will receive Emmanuel Macron in Bamako, the Malian capital, in a few days. The French president is expected there on Monday, December 20. End of Operation Barkhane, potential arrival of

Russian paramilitaries in the country

or even duration of the Malian transition: there will be no shortage of subjects among them.

For several months, the two Heads of State have been competing in kindness by interposed declarations.

Mali, via its Prime Minister of the transition Choguel Maïga, had qualified the end of Operation Barkhane as "

abandonment in full flight

 " before the United Nations.

Words qualified as " 

shameful

 " by Emmanuel Macron, who then called into question the credibility of the Malian government.

In the process, the regular allusions of the Malian authorities to the possible arrival of Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group further aggravated the tensions.

These military subjects will be at the heart of this exceptional meeting between the two heads of state.

One of the French president's objectives will also be to convince Assimi Goïta not to resort to the paramilitaries to fight terrorism.

And after this meeting in Bamako, during which the end of the transition and the date of the next elections will also be mentioned,

Emmanuel Macron

will then go to Gao to share a Christmas dinner with the French soldiers still there.

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  • Mali

  • France

  • Assimi Goïta

  • Emmanuel Macron

  • G5 Sahel

  • Sahel