The inspector general of the Bundeswehr, the German army, has warned that its biggest overseas mission, the one in Mali, in West Africa, is becoming increasingly dangerous from an operational and political point of view.

“In Bamako we have a government that we do not consider democratically elected and legitimate. The fact that he does not want to hold elections for another five years is an intolerable situation for us. We cannot consider this situation normal,” General Eberhard Chorn told the German News Agency.

Some 1,400 members of the Bundeswehr are currently deployed in the African country as part of the European Union Training Mission (EUTM) and the UN peacekeeping mission (MINUSMA).

But tensions in Mali have recently been heightened, especially between the military junta and the former colonial ruling power France. The French ambassador was expelled from Bamako, while the Danish Special Forces are forced to withdraw.

There were already intense confrontations between Mali and the West because of the presence of Russian mercenaries of the Wagner company. The situation has become even more complicated throughout the region, the senior German officer said.

“Dominoes” of political developments in the Sahel

“If we broaden our focus beyond Mali, to the Sahel as a whole, we see another coup, in Burkina Faso, and an attempted coup in Guinea-Bissau. All this does not make the situation any easier from an operational point of view,” General Chorn said.

“These countries are in difficult political waters. Niger is an anchor for us in the region right now. ”

In Mali, the security situation is deteriorating overall, according to the officer. The training of the country‘s armed forces is progressing but “there is a long way to go“, he noted.

For her part, Germany‘s Defence Minister expressed “great scepticism” about whether her country would maintain the force it has deployed in Mali.

“I don‘t have the impression that we are welcome anymore,” Christine Lambrecht said during an interview with the German public television network ZDF. European countries say they are now facing restrictions on their anti-terrorist operations from the junta.

The rapid deterioration of relations between Bamako and Paris is making things increasingly difficult for Berlin, Lambrecht explained. Germany‘s Foreign Minister, Annalena Berbock, also questioned the continuation of Germany‘s military mission in Mali as early as last week.