The European Union decided on Tuesday to extend the mandate of its civilian mission in Mali, EUCAP, until January 2025, thus extending its mandate for two more years and approving funding of 73 million euros.
As part of the decision to extend the mission, the EU-27 have decided to tweak the mandate «in view of the volatile situation» in the country, says a statement from the EU Council, so it will only coordinate the deployment of Malian police forces in the south of the country, the only area without the presence of jihadist groups.
In this way, the EU takes into consideration the delicate political and security situation in Mali, a country in which its military operation to train the Malian Army has been frozen after the continuous clashes with Bamako, which culminated with the departure of French troops fighting jihadist groups in the north and with the authorization of the Malian military junta to the Russian paramilitary entity Wagner Group to operate in the country.
Since then, the EU has faced a reduction of its forces in the country, leaving only around 300 troops, most of them Spanish, who perform only advisory tasks to the Army and who have remained as the main European contingent in Mali.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
