The executive does not want its calendar dictated by the junta in power in Mali.

France will not tolerate “any ultimatum” and will not be “sensitive to any pressure” in managing the withdrawal of its troops.

This departure will be "in good order and in safety", assured Jean Castex on Tuesday during a declaration before the National Assembly followed by a debate without a vote in a stripped hemicycle.

While Bamako asked Paris on Friday to send its soldiers “without delay”, the Prime Minister replied that “the safety of our soldiers, like that of our nationals, will be our priority”.

France announced on Thursday the gradual disengagement of some 2,400 soldiers deployed in Mali, out of a total of 4,600 in the Sahel, in a context of heightened tensions with the colonels who came to power by force in August 2020.

The Wagner organization singled out

On the military level, France will “close the bases of Gossi, Ménaka and finally Gao.

The maneuver (…) will last between four and six months, ”explained Jean Castex.

Returning to the reasons for the departure of France after nine years of commitment, the Prime Minister crushed a regime which "denied, one by one, its commitments" and which "chosen to rely on a private organization well known to Russian mercenaries, Wagner, whose economic model is based on the predation of the wealth of the countries in which it operates".

"It is no longer possible today for us to invest in a country whose authorities no longer wish to cooperate with the Europeans and hinder their ability to act", he pleaded.

Defense Minister Florence Parly for her part assured that “we are taking all measures to avoid any contact (…) with Wagner”.

On behalf of rebellious France, Jean-Luc Mélenchon for his part considered that the intervention in Mali ended in “failure”, but added that “we deserve to be respected”.

“France did not invade Mali, but came at the call of the Malian authorities, it remained there at the request of the governments” of this country, argued the presidential candidate.

A “Bérézina” according to Frédérique Dumas

For LR Jean-Louis Thiériot, despite “military successes (…) one can have the impression of a diplomatic failure”.

" How did we get there ?

he wondered.

Jean-Christophe Lagarde (UDI), questioned the "successive strategic hesitations", ensuring that despite "tactical" military victories, the "assessment of our intervention in the Sahel is to date a failure".

Similar story for the small opposition group Libertés et Territoires, MP Frédérique Dumas denounced a “Bérézina”, and among the Communists, Jean-Paul Lecoq considered that “the failure was foreseeable from day one”.

But for the boss of the LREM deputies Christophe Castaner "the failure would have been to give up in the face of the difficulty", while Paris is redeploying its forces in the region.

"If there is failure, it is that of the military junta" Malian, finally added Florence Parly.

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