AA / Paris / Ümit Dönmez
French President Emmanuel Macron and his Senegalese counterpart Macky Sall expressed their concerns on Friday regarding the activities of the Russian paramilitary company Wagner in Mali.
During an interview in Paris *, the two heads of state denounced the “crimes” perpetrated by Wagner once morest “certain communities” such as the Fulani, indicated the Elysée.
“Wagner must leave” Mali, indicated the French President, who holds the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU), to his Senegalese counterpart, current president of the African Union (AU).
According to the Élysée, the two presidents were “very converging” on the fact that “Wagner is the praetorian guard of a regime whose primary objective is to protect itself”, indirectly referring to the President of the Transition in Mali, the Colonel Assimi Goïta, as well as the National Transitional Council (CNT).
After a decade-long military presence in Mali, France, which has very tense relations with the Malian executive, announced last February its decision to reduce its military presence in the Sahel country which is fighting terrorism.
In reaction to comments from the Elysée, the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov accused Paris of acting with a “colonial mentality” vis-à-vis Mali and declared that the Wagner company was present there on a “basic basis. commercial”.
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* “Ukrainian wheat: Macky Sall reveals, in Paris, Vladimir Putin’s proposals to release the goods in stock”, Anadolu Agency, June 11, 2022
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