The United Nations Security Council met on October 18 in New York to consider the UN Secretary-General’s quarterly report on the situation in Mali covering the period from June to September 2022.
During this meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Mali, Abdoulaye Diop, took the floor to explain Mali’s position on the said report.
In particular, the Malian minister expressed bewilderment that the report did not mention Mali’s request to the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting.
“It is surprising that, within the framework of the factual narrative, the report of the Secretary-General did not mention the referral to the Security Council by Mali on August 15, 2022, with regard to the attempts at destabilization and the repeated violations of the airspace by French forces,” Abdoulaye Diop told the Security Council.
According to Minister Diop, these extremely serious acts of aggression, which constitute a violation of the Charter of the United Nations and of International Law, must not remain without follow-up. The Malian Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation took the opportunity, on behalf of the Government of Mali, to renew the request for a meeting of the Security Council, in order to present evidence of acts of duplicity, espionage and destabilization of France against Mali. The above-mentioned violations committed by France include the sharing of intelligence and the dropping of military equipment for the benefit of criminal organizations, which are at the root of the insecurity and violence against the civilian populations of Mali.
Abdoulaye Diop added that the Government of Mali reserves the right to resort to self-defense if France continues to undermine Mali’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and national security, while continuing to call on the Council of security to assume its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.
Regarding the UN peacekeeping mission, the Malian minister assured that there is no desire to restrict the movements of MINUSMA. On the contrary, Mali is ready to cooperate with this mission for the effectiveness of joint actions on the ground. For Abdoulaye Diop, there is rather “a desire to assert Mali’s sovereignty over its territory, a desire to coordinate our actions with MINUSMA”.
One question remains to be asked why Mali’s request for an emergency meeting, filed two months ago, on August 15, 2022, still remains unanswered? The Malian authorities have raised this issue on several occasions. Thus, Abdoulaye Diop, once again, recalled, on October 18, that the Malian people are waiting for a decision from the Security Council.
