The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Mali, Abdoulaye Diop, took part in the United Nations Security Council, on October 18, devoted to the quarterly report of the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, on the situation in Mali, covering the period from June 3 to September 19, 2022.
Abdoulaye Diop addressed many topics in his speech, such as the progress towards the country's return to constitutional order, the Algiers process, the security situation, the question of human rights. However, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has given the utmost attention to the complaint filed by the Government of Mali with the UN Security Council two months ago, on August 15, 2022, with a request to hold an emergency meeting. This complaint relates to repeated violations of Malian airspace by the French forces, the sharing of information, the delivery of weapons for the benefit of criminal organizations. At the Security Council, Abdoulaye Diop said he was perplexed by the silence of the Secretary-General's report on the referral to the Security Council by Mali on August 15, 2022, concerning the attempts at destabilization and the repeated violations of the airspace by French troops. The Minister of Mali underlined that these extremely serious acts of aggression should not remain without follow-up.
"The Government of Mali renews its request for a specific meeting of the Security Council, which will give it the opportunity to present concrete evidence of acts of duplicity, espionage and destabilization by France against Mali", said Minister Diop, emphasizing that the people of Mali expect the Security Council to assume its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.
The French ambassador to the UN, Nicolas de Rivière, rejected these accusations. So, Abdoulaye Diop invited France to be the bearer of the convocation of a meeting of the Security Council, if it is so sure of its innocence: "Now that France has taken the floor to deny the accusations, I hope that it carries the convening of a meeting so that Mali can give its evidence". The Security Council's silence on Mali's complaint raises many questions and misunderstandings not only among the authorities and people of Mali, but among the entire African continent.
Another important topic that Abdoulaye Diop touched on in his speech was the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali. He said that there is no desire to restrict the movements of MINUSMA but rather a desire to assert Mali's sovereignty over its territory. Minister Diop invited the UN mission "to cooperate fully with the Malian side, with a view to the effectiveness of our joint actions on the ground". The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mali explained that the Malian Government had to take certain measures for national security considerations, following the arrival, without legal basis, of foreign forces presenting themselves under the banner of the United Nations. He also specified that the suspension of rotations that followed was only temporary, it was immediately lifted following the establishment of a permanent high-level consultation framework between the Government and MINUSMA.
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Thus, the impressive speech of Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop made it clear that Mali has no problem with MINUSMA and that the Malian side is ready for cooperation, subject to respect for the country's sovereignty. This speech also showed the determination of the authorities of Mali, and of the Malian people, to go all the way with regard to the complaint against France, submitted to the Security Council. But, really, why, two months later, the Malian complaint remains unanswered.
