MESEBERG, Germany – Germany will end its participation in the European Union training mission in Mali but is ready to continue with a UN peacekeeping mission in the country under certain conditions, Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said on Wednesday.
France and allies fighting militants in Mali earlier this year said they would pull out troops after almost a decade.
The exit raised questions about the futures of the 14,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping mission (MINUSMA) and the European Union’s EUTM and EUCAP missions.
Under the current transitional Malian government, there was a danger that Germany-trained Malian soldiers could fight together with Russian troops and “commit cruel violations of human rights”, Lambrecht said after a cabinet meeting in Meseberg, a city north of Berlin.
“We cannot support such a system any longer,” the defence minister said according to Reuters. “That’s why we will stop our (participation in the) EUTM training mission.”
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