Mali's Military Junta Cancels Defense Agreements with France

The ruling military junta in Mali announced, on Monday evening, the cancellation of defense agreements signed with France and its European partners.

The Malian junta denounced the "flagrant violations" of the national sovereignty by the French forces in the country and their "many violations" of Mali's airspace.

For weeks, the military council has been threatening to cancel these agreements, and the decision issued (Monday) was further evidence of the deteriorating relations between the authorities dominated by the military who came to power in a coup in August 2020 and the old allies of Mali in the fight against terrorists.

Malian government spokesman Colonel Abdallah Maiga said in a statement in state television that the government had canceled all agreements that set a legal framework for the presence of the French "Barkhane" and the European "Takoba" forces in Mali, as well as the defense cooperation agreement concluded in 2014 between Mali and France.