Tensions between Mali and Sweden are escalating as reports from Mali say the military government has ordered the Swedish Ambassador to Mali, Kristina Kuhnel, to leave the country within 72 hours, following statements by Sweden’s Minister for international development, Johan Forssell, that his government had decided to phase out aid to Mali due to its ties to Moscow. This statement by the Swedish minister was deemed hostile by Bamako.
Forssell was quoted as saying that Mali could not “support Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine and at the same time receive several hundred million kroner each year in development aid.
“The government has therefore decided to phase out Sweden’s bilateral aid strategy with Mali in 2024.”
Mali quickly summoned Kuhnel and told her that she had 72 hours to leave the country starting from today.
Following Ukraine’s propaganda video openly claiming support for the ambusj of Malian troops in Tinzaouatene, Mali and Burkina Faso severed ties with the country, calling its support for the Tuareg rebels “a clear threat to security in the Sahel”.
An additional piece of evidence, reports say, emerged in the investigation into the attack in Tinzaouten. Soldiers, whose identities have not been revealed, shared a photo of a drone found at the scene of the ambush.
The reports said a comparative analysis of images made it possible to establish a direct link between the drone and those used by the Ukrainian army in the conflict between it and Russia.
The Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) are currently carefully examining the drone in order to determine its exact origins and obtain valuable data on its starting position.
The current diplomatic spat emphasises the broader geopolitical shift unfolding in the Sahel region as the three AES states form ever closer alliance with Russia.
Earlier, in June, Sweden had announced the closure of its embassy in Bamako, the Malian capital, by the end of 2024 due to the deteriorating security situation in the country and said Stockholm would continue supporting the region from Dakar, Senegal.
Sweden had also said it would pull its 220 soldiers deployed to the region in 2022 as part of a United Nations peacekeeping mission.
The decision by Mali is a clear message to former Western allies that the country and its co-members in the AES intend to stamp their authority over all matters relating to their sovereignty, sources within the Malian government say. It is anticipated that this move by Sweden may trigger same response from other European states as ties between the AES and Russia get stronger.
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