The Defense Minister's trip to Africa was ill-fated.

Christine Lambrecht first hesitated for more than two months before concretizing plans to visit the Bundeswehr soldiers in Mali.

Then the political situation deteriorated so quickly that there was almost consensus in Germany that withdrawal from the European Training Mission (EUTM) and from the United Nations Stabilization Mission (MINUSMA) was imminent.

Peter Carstens

Political correspondent in Berlin

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A visit by the SPD politician to Mali seemed to be becoming diplomatically meaningless, as can be seen from the minister's thinned-out travel itinerary, which was only completed one day before the planned start.

A visit to the capital Bamako and political talks were no longer planned.

Just a flying visit of a few hours to the Bundeswehr camp near Gao.

Finally, the minister's trip on Tuesday evening was canceled entirely because of a corona case in the immediate vicinity of Lambrecht.

The West has long given way

There had been several twists before that.

Only recently, the SPD politician had announced in a self-confident tone that the Bundeswehr would not run away from Russia's mercenaries who are said to be active in Mali: "We will not give way, we won't make it that easy for the Russians," said the SPD Politician at the end of January in an interview with “Welt am Sonntag”.

According to the holder of command and command authority over Germany's armed forces, Moscow "won't be able to send mercenaries to persuade the West to retreat almost automatically wherever Russia doesn't want to see us."

So stay.

What Lambrecht didn't consider was that the West had already given way to the Russians in Mali, at least regionally.

The French have long since abandoned their positions in Timbuktu in the north.

In the barracks they left, there are now Russian soldiers and officers, according to Bamako.

In addition to regular forces, a few dozen trainers, there are estimated to be around 300 Russian mercenaries there.

They may be members of the state-controlled "Wagner" group.

The European Union, led by Germany and France, had already threatened last summer that such a Russian presence would be incompatible with Western commitments.

Lambrecht's announcement that she would not give way was diametrically opposed to statements made by her predecessor Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU).

However, the government in Bamako had ignored the threats from Paris and Berlin.

Two weeks later the wind had changed again.

The military junta under the Malian head of state Assimi Goita had gone on a diplomatic offensive against the Europeans, especially against France.

Flight connections were cut, and the ambassador was chased out of town.

A contingent of Danish special forces was expelled.

Tens of thousands demonstrated against France, which is also believed to be behind the harsh sanctions imposed by the West African community of states ECOWAS.

support for the putschists

Ulf Laessing, representative of the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation in Bamako, suspects that the protest against France will be supported by the population, who probably support the military.

If the putschists now call elections, they would probably win, so the assessment.

But Goita recently postponed these elections by several years.

Lambrecht also wanted to talk about this in her new role in foreign policy: "I will make it very clear to the Malian government that it is not possible for elections to be suspended for five years." Strong words, expressed in an interview.

Apparently nobody in Bamako was interested in hearing them.

In any case, a meeting between Lambrecht and Goita could not be arranged.

After all, Mali's Defense Minister Sadio Camara might have been willing to speak to the German politician in Gao, where the Bundeswehr is stationed with the majority of its 1,420 soldiers in Mali.

Lambrecht followed Baerbock

Meanwhile, France has given the Goita regime an ultimatum to hold an earlier election date.

It expires in a week.

In Germany, the minister said very recently: "Due to the current situation" she "must very much question whether we can continue to get involved." Government, we must honestly ask ourselves whether the prerequisites for the success of our joint commitment are still in place.

Our commitment is not an end in itself.”

In Germany, concerns about continuing the mission have been growing for months.

Especially against the training mission, which appears to be a total failure.

Two weeks ago, when the Bundeswehr tried to fly in a rotating team of around 70 men and women, the A400M military transporter that had taken off from Germany was forbidden from entering Malian airspace a few moments before the border.

The German machine had to turn off and land on the Canary Islands.

Efforts to classify this affront as an arbitrary act by a subordinate proved unsuccessful: it was meant by the highest authority, as was the actual flight ban on reconnaissance drones and the Bundeswehr helicopters.

The defense politician and former SPD member of parliament Fritz Felsentreu summarized the matter in a Twitter message: "Time to leave" - ​​time to go.