Brussels 26.09.2021 The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell met Thursday, Septembre 23, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Transitional Government of Mali Abdoulaye Diop in New-York, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

During this exchange, the EU top diplomat relayed the serious concerns of the European Union in the face of the continued deterioration of the political, social, humanitarian and security context in Mali.

Borrell reaffirmed the European Union’s full support for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and in particular to his press release of September 16, which insists on respect for 18 months of the Transition and the organisation of the elections in February 2022. A shift would only worsen the crisis of confidence between the institutions and the population. The need to move forward on some key reforms was also discussed.

The European diplomat also made it clear that a possible intervention by the paramilitary company Wagner in Mali, whose proven abuses in other countries are no longer to be demonstrated, would have immediate consequences on cooperation between the European Union and the Transitional Government.

As an important partner of Mali, alongside its partners in the G5 Sahel and the Coalition for the Sahel, the European Union will remain committed, but it also owes itself to a language of truth when the situation requires it.