Sweden’s ambassador to Bamako has been summoned and ordered to leave the country within 72 hours because of a “hostile” statement by a Swedish minister, Mali’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says.
Mali’s move on Friday came days after Sweden’s minister for international development cooperation and trade, Johan Forssell, said the government had decided to phase out aid to Mali.
While Sweden had deployed soldiers to the region in 2022 as part of a United Nations peacekeeping mission, Stockholm said it would pull its 220 soldiers out of the mission in Mali.
“In recent times, conditions have changed in the country, but until our last soldier is home, we continue to conduct operations just as usual,” the Swedish armed forces said at that time.
Other European nations, including France, completed their withdrawals of troops from Mali in 2022.
Since then, Mali has moved closer to Russia, and the Wagner mercenary group has been operating in the country since late 2021, replacing French troops and international peacekeepers.
In July, the military leaders of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger signed a new defence cooperation pact, hailing it as a step “towards greater integration”.
Colonel Assimi Goita, Mali’s military leader, said the strengthened relationship means an “attack on one of us will be an attack on all the other members”.
It remains unclear if the new approach has helped stem the violence that has plagued the country.
