France To Leave Mali If Price Of Staying Is Too High

French Defence Minister Florence Parly says the country will find a way to keep their mission going in combating Islamist militants in Mali but that there are limits to the price the country is prepared to pay to remain there.

Parly however said the ministers from the 15 countries involved in the European special force were for now united in wanting to maintain the mission, “so we must determine its new conditions.”

Relations between Mali’s military junta and its international partners are close to breaking down after it failed to organise an election following two military coups.

On Wednesday, the junta told France to stop interfering in the affairs of its former colony and to keep its “colonial reflexes” to itself.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Friday that the situation had become untenable, as the European allies agreed to draw up plans within two weeks on how to adapt their campaign, which covers Mali and the wider Sahel region, to changing circumstances.