While the Ukrainian crisis revives the spectrum of the war between Russia of Vladimir Putin and Western countries, the members of Parliament voted Tuesday on the withdrawal of French troops in Mali, five days after the announcement of Emmanuel Macron .
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A diplomatic and military setback in debate before the national representation. Five days after the announcement of the withdrawal of French troops in Mali by Emmanuel Macron, MPs had the opportunity to express their interrogations and reviews on the French strategy conducted for nine years, to combat the advance of jihadist forces In the Sahel, as part of the “Serval” operations and then “Barkhane”. “This decision was made collegially (…) with our African and European allies,” said Prime Minister Jean Castex Tuesday, February 22.
In front of a sparse haemicycle, these statements held under Article 50-1 of the Constitution had all the air of a symbolic act, the debate not concluded by a vote. The same exercise was to take place in the Senate on Wednesday. “Leaving Mali, it’s not, it should not be leaving the Sahel,” said the President of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Jean-Louis Bourlanges (Modem, Hauts-de-Seine). Twenty-speaking of the elected officials of oppositions and the majority have followed one another, with lively tribunals made to the 59 French soldiers who died in combat or by accident at the Sahel.
After the official announcement of withdrawal, Thursday, February 17, the oppositions did not hesitate to speak of “Camouflet” diplomatic and even a “humiliation”. The expulsion of the French ambassador to Mali, on January 31, had precipitated the end of the dialogue with the power of Colonel Assimi Goïta. A relationship already compromised since the two courses of August 2020 and May 2021. “This lack of responsiveness puts us in an extremely critical situation, both for the security of our military and for the continuation of operations,” denounced the Member of Parliament The Republicans (LR) of Seine-Saint-Denis, François CORNUT-GENTLE.
“Total misunderstanding of the land”
While the Malian authorities have requested the withdrawal “without delay” of French soldiers, Emmanuel Macron announced a starting plan of four to six months with the evacuation of several military bases and the decline of some of the troops in Niger. “The redeployment of French troops in the neighboring states of Mali is a new evidence of your total incomprehension of the ground,” reacted the Communist MP from Seine-Maritime, Jean-Paul Lecoq. Like others from his colleagues, Frédérique Dumas (Freedoms and Territories, Hauts-de-Seine) questioned the “fragility” of the power of the Nigerian President Mohamed Bazoum.
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