The ruling military junta in Mali announced the cancellation of defense agreements signed with France and its European partners, expressing its protest against the "flagrant violations" of the national sovereignty by the French forces present in the country and their "many violations" of Mali's airspace.
The council stressed that the presence of French forces in Mali is no longer legal, but that this is unlikely to deter Paris from continuing its covert operations against jihadists in Mali, according to an analysis by the French newspaper La Croix.
The writer in the newspaper, Laurent Larche, began his analysis by emphasizing that what Bamako had done was, in other words, the abolition of the legal framework under which the French intervention was carried out through the Serval and then Barkhane operations in Mali since 2013, not to mention the annulment of the agreements that governed the intervention of European forces involved in the fight against terrorism. on financial territory.
While more than two thousand French soldiers are still present in the north of the country - especially at the Gao base - the Mali announcement at the present time is not expected - according to Larchi - to change the position of the French forces and their position within Malian territory.
In fact, according to the author, the French forces began withdrawing from Mali since last summer, and the pace of this withdrawal accelerated after French President Emmanuel Macron announced the end of Operation Barkhane on February 17.
Larchee explained that since October 2021, Paris handed over the bases in which Barkhane's forces were deployed, one after another, to the Malian forces.
He stated that the last of these bases is the "Gossi" base, which was received by the Malian forces on April 19 last, noting that the French forces are no longer deployed in this country except in only two bases, namely the Menaka base, with which the French are being disengaged, and the base of GAO, which is expected to take months to dismantle.
The writer questioned the possibility of accelerating the process of the exit of the French forces as a result of the logistical complexity they are facing and the fact that they are taking place in a highly hostile environment.
He said that the retreating convoys will always be under the protection and supervision of the French forces on the ground as well as in the air, and the threats and enemies that are discovered in the way of these convoys will be neutralized.
With regard to combating terrorism, Larchee says, France will no longer officially carry out a military mission in Mali, but there is a widespread belief that it will not hesitate to strike the jihadists it discovers in this country if given the opportunity and means.