Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at UNSC briefing on the situation in Mali
Colleagues,
We thank SRSG Wane for the briefing. We welcome Permanent representative of Mali, Ambassador Konfuru, to this meeting.
Malian authorities take systematic efforts to normalize the situation, create necessary efforts to hold elections at all levels within the negotiated terms. Transitional roadmap is being implemented consistently, and steps are being made to work out electoral legislation and implement territorial reforms. New draft constitution is under national consideration.
The rescheduling of constitutional referendum that the Malian authorities announced on 10 March, appears to have been explained by objective reasons – there need to be conditions, where a maximum number of Malians can cast their votes freely and in a calm setting. At this point, ensuring security in Mali remains a top priority, especially now that the French Barkhane and European Tacuba have withdrawn from the country.
The leadership of Mali also claims committed to implementing the Algiers Peace Agreement, which remains fundamental for achieving lasting peace and national accord in the country. As part of the work of the Monitoring Committee, steps are envisaged to accelerate the development of the northern territories, recover state authorities, and integrate former combatants into the national armed forces. The negotiation process does not come easily. It is important that the signatories of the Peace Agreement show flexibility and a willingness to make compromises in order to preserve the peace and unity of Mali.
Unless the situation in Mali normalizes, there can be no stability throughout the Sahel. ISIL and Al-Qaida-affiliated groups are still operating on a considerable part of the Malian territory where they carry out raids against civilians, units of the Malian military, and UN peacekeepers. However, despite objective difficulties, the armed forces of Mali have shown that they can achieve results when combating terrorists. We welcome the launch of a national strategy for stabilization in central regions of Mali. We are convinced that the authorities of this country are truly willing to do their best to overcome Mali’s outstanding challenges, first of all in the area of ensuring security and internal political stability.
We support the activity of MINUSMA, which helps Bamako and the people of the country to resolve pressing problems. We note MINUSMA’s efforts in promoting stabilization in Mali. We are aware of the threats that peacekeepers become exposed to during their service in Mali. We honor the memory of all Blue Helmets who paid the ultimate price when bringing peace and stability to Mali.
Close coordination with the host state and respect for the sovereignty of Mali is key for successful implementation of MINUSMA’s tasks. At the same time, the focus must remain on the implementation of key elements of the mandate, primarily in the area of protecting civilians and rendering adequate assistance to the defense and security forces of Mali. Also, MINUSMA must strictly adhere to its human rights mandate, including the part about assisting the Malian authorities with their investigations.
We regret that some troop-contributing countries decided to withdraw from or put on hold their participation in MINUSMA.
As for reforming the peacekeeping presence in Mali, we believe that any options for reformatting the modalities of MINUSMA’s work should meet the main challenges that Mali is faced with. Also, this should be agreed upon with Bamako well in advance and based on the opinion of the host country.
Russia provides comprehensive assistance to the Malian forces, i.a. in the area of capacity-building, training of military and law enforcement personnel. Our bilateral cooperation proceeds from a relevant request on the part of Bamako and fully abides by applicable norms of the international law. Thanks, among other things, to Russian support, the armed forces of Mali were able to significantly increase their potential in countering the terrorist threat and convert it into real results on the ground.
We once again heard our Western colleagues speak negatively about the enhancement of Russian-Malian cooperation. We regret that they remain so preoccupied with geopolitical competition. As a matter of fact, their allegations have nothing to do with concerns for Mali's well-being. On the contrary, it shows that they are not and have never been bothered for the opinion of Malians themselves. It is no secret that destabilization of the Sahel and particularly Mali has effected from Western reckless adventure in Libya. Protracted Western presence in this part of Africa also yielded no tangible results. In this connection, we call on our colleagues in the Council to recognize their mistakes and abandon the neocolonial narrative. This region does not belong to you, so let the Malians and other nations of the region stand at the helm and address their problems jointly with whatever partners they choose. Our African partners did not raise any complaints with us regarding the modalities of our interaction.
We believe that in the current situation, we need to help the Malian authorities resolve the acute problems effectively rather than dictate what course they should embark on, which some states do quite often anyway. We call on Bamako’s international partners to keep from politicizing donor assistance, which already led to suspension of Mali’s assistance for development programs. Such decisions but aggravate the already dire humanitarian situation, especially in light of the fact that Mali’s humanitarian appeal remains underfinanced.
Russia will continue to pursue normalization in Mali via our efforts at the Security Council platform, and also provide bilateral support to Bamako. We are considering opportunities for providing additional food and energy assistance to Mali. We think that effective assistance to the Malian authorities in the area of security and crisis settlement meets the goal of ensuring lasting peace and stability throughout the Sahara-Sahel region. The key stabilizing role is to be played by the people of the Sahel as prescribed by the principle “African solutions to the African problems”.
Thank you.
