Burkina Faso 'welcomes' Mali's 'courageous decision' to request MINUSMA withdrawal
In Burkina Faso, the Burkinabe government welcomes the "courageous decision" of neighboring Mali, after the request for the "withdrawal without delay" of the UN mission in Mali made by Bamako Friday, June 16, announced Sunday, June 18, the spokesman of the transitional government who announced it in a statement. The Burkinabe transitional government called on the international community to "strictly respect the choices made by Mali".
Mali and Burkina Faso have been moving closer to Russia for years, with increasing pressure from the population as well, pushing their governments to take offensive positions vis-à-vis the France and the UN. Here, a protester holds up portraits of Malian transitional presidents Assimi Goïta, Burkinabe Ibrahim Traoré, as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin, in Ouagadougou on October 4, 2022. © Issouf Sanogo / AFP
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In the statement signed by its spokesman, the Burkinabe government first "congratulated Mali for this choice". It "encourages the government and the brotherly people of Mali in this affirmation of the sovereignty of the Malian state," he said.
This decision, according to Burkinabe government spokesman Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo, "is in line with the strategic vision of the Malian state in the fight against terrorism and for the restoration of peace and security in the Sahel".
Like its Malian neighbor, Burkina Faso is ruled by military coup plotters and has been caught in a spiral of terrorist violence for several years.
Another sign of support: in the same communiqué, Ouagadougou asks the Secretary-General of the United Nations to "kindly takethe necessary measures for the withdrawal of Burkinabe troopsengaged in Mali within the framework of MINUSMA" for ten years.
Burkina Faso is one of the main contributors in terms of personnel to this stabilization mission in the country: according to official figures, currently, about a thousand soldiers, police and gendarmes are deployed there.
>> READ ALSO: Withdrawal of MINUSMA from Mali: "A demagogic position aimed at pleasing the sovereignist base of the country" says researcher Yvan Guichaoua
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- Burkina Faso
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- Sahel