Today, Sunday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian accused the Russian "Wagner" mercenary group of "plundering" Mali, adding that this group does not seek to replace France and European countries that deploy forces in the African Sahel region.
Le Drian said - in an interview published by the newspaper "Le Journal de Dimanche" - that the controversial group "is composed of former Russian military, who are armed by Russia and possess Russian logistical resources."
The French minister added that the Wagner Group is currently using financial resources in exchange for providing protection to the military who are currently ruling the country, and said, "They are looting my money."
Le Drian considered that "Wagner is taking advantage of the weakness of some countries to establish itself, not to replace the Europeans (in the Sahel), but to strengthen Russia's influence in Africa."
Military support
And the French Foreign Minister had previously accused the Wagner Group in mid-January of "supporting" the military group that seeks "to seize power" in Mali under the pretext of combating armed groups.
France and its European allies accuse the military council of using mercenaries from the "Wagner Group", which is close to the Kremlin, and is spread in other conflict sites, and is accused of committing abuses in Central Africa.
The ruling military junta in Mali denies the presence of Wagner mercenaries in the country, and says that it is related to the presence of Russian trainers similar to the European ones.
Media reports indicate that the military council in Mali hired about 400 mercenaries of the Russian Wagner Company, which angered France, the European Union and the United States of America as well, even if the Malian government denied this.
The head of the US military command in Africa, General Stephen Townsend, said last week that "Wagner is in Mali," adding, "They are there, we think they are a few hundred now."
strained relationships
France sought in vain to deter Bamako from using Wagner's mercenaries, and said that their presence in the country "would be incompatible" with the stay of French soldiers in Mali to fight armed groups.
Relations between France and Mali have been suffering from tension recently, after the army took control of the country, as French Defense Minister Florence Parly said - yesterday, Saturday - that there are limits to the price that her country and its European partners can pay to stay in Mali.
On the other hand, last Wednesday the military council asked France to stop interfering in the affairs of its former colony, and to keep its "colonial echoes" to itself.
The military council in Mali recently asked France to review the defense agreements concluded with Paris. It also asked, a few days ago, the Danish forces participating in the French-led "Takuba" European force to leave Mali, which several French sources familiar with the file considered an "insult."