Will German soldiers be operating in Mali too? - The European Training Mission is a long-term task

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) has asked Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen to ascertain whether Bundeswehr instructors will be involved in the European Army Training Mission (EUTM) in Mali. "This would not only very risky, but the Bundeswehr soldiers would also need to be better prepared for the complex background of the violence, in which Islamist terrorists and the Tuareg are involved," said the STP's Africa-consultant, Ulrich Delius, in Göttingen on Thursday. In July of 2013, Commander General Lecointre had demanded the EUTM mandate to be extended and decided to send European instructors to the crisis regions to support the freshly trained soldiers.

The STP warns about too high expectations for the European Training Mission. "The Malian soldiers are still far from being able to fight the Islamist extremists effectively," said Delius. "Almost all attacks against terrorist Islamists are currently carried out by the French army. It is still unclear when Mali's army will be able to protect the civilian population. It is a long-term task to build up the army in Mali." Meanwhile, the EUTM has been extended until 2016. Eight battalions with a total of 5,600 Malian soldiers will be trained – not two batallions, as originally intended.

French military officials doubt that the Malian army will continue fighting the Islamist extremists effectively. The government seems to believe that the Tuareg rebellion is a greater threat than the attacks by Islamists. "Obviously, the European governments and the leadership in Mali have different priorities," said Delius. "There is no other explanation why the peace process between the Government of Mali and the Tuareg rebels has come to a standstill. Reconciliation is only an issue in the politician's showcase-speeches. This is a dangerous development, because new conflicts with the Tuareg are inevitable."

Also, Mali's military forces had shown little effort to curb the influence of the radical extremists during the period of government of Amadou Toumani Touré. The army made non-aggression agreements with the militant Islamists and traded with them. "This mus not happen again, or else the European Training Mission will be meaningless. "The other previous training missions carried out by United States in West Africa have failed miserably – despite the spent budget of 500 million US dollars.