Blame game underway as tensions between the US and EU grow over Mali coup

A military takeover in Mali is exposing fractures not only within the country but also the international community, as rival powers blame one another for helping destabilise the state.

State and organisations jockeying for influence in the mineral-rich African state include the US, the EU, France, Russia, and Germany.

The EU’s representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, denied rumours that the bloc’s mission to Mali had trained any of the “4 main coup leaders."

Now, however, the EU is also emphasising the role of other governments in training the coup leaders, pointing the finger at the US and even the Russian government.

In March this year, the US conducted a training exercise with Malian special forces who went on to overthrow the government. The name of the exercise: Military-Civilian cooperation.

It is the second time in eight years that US-trained Malian soldiers have carried out a coup in their country and some are questioning whether US military training encourages or hinders coups.

A study has found that US-trained soldiers, once back in their home countries, are twice as likely to commit a coup than those who had received no such training.

The tussle for power in Mali between the US and France has been simmering for some time.

In May of this year, the US was lobbying quietly to have an American lead the UN mission to Mali, thereby breaking France’s grip on the country.

Paris, however, was not a fan of the proposal.

The Trump administration has called for the UN mission to Mali to be scaled back citing its ineffectiveness at halting the spread of violence.

A US government official described the UN mission in Mali  as “a billion-dollar air services group that runs shuttle service for Malian VIPs” adding that it subsidised the independent French counter-terrorism operation providing “logistics support [for] French Operation Barkhane.”

While the EU says that the main coup plotters were not trained by its missions, other lower-ranking soldiers it has trained have been accused of human rights abuses.

Russian connection

While France, the former colonial power in Mali, continues to exercise an outsized influence in the country it is far from being alone.

Russia has had a significant relationship with Mali dating back to the 1960s when the country was gaining its independence from France.

German state media recently asked whether Russia might have had a hand in the coup in Mali, given that it has remained silent in its aftermath.

When earlier this year some protestors called for the departure of foreign forces, they wanted Russian forces who are not seen as having an imperialist legacy, to return.

Germany, however, has attempted to position itself differently to other major powers vying for influence in the mineral-rich and strategic country.

The German presence in Mali

In Mali, unlike France, Great Britain and the US, Germany has strategically offered itself as offering “purely professional” assistance, according to the Global Public Policy Institute in Berlin.

The think tank went on to say that Germany has not attempted to make political interventions with the partner government, unlike other foreign powers, and that “local ownership is taken very seriously.”

That assessment was undertaken in August, and following the coup in Mali on August 18, German policymakers may very well feel vindicated.