The order comes days after a Swedish government minister announced that aid to Mali would be “phased out”.
Sweden’s ambassador in Bamako has been summoned and ordered to leave the country within 72 hours due to a “hostile” statement from a Swedish minister, Mali’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says.
Mali’s decision 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.
“You cannot support Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine and at the same time receive several hundred million kronor every year in development aid,” Forssell said on Wednesday, commenting on a post on X that said Mali was cutting ties with Ukraine.
The diplomatic dispute underscores the broader geopolitical shift unfolding in the Sahel region, as three military-led states – Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger – turn away from traditional Western allies toward Russia.
In June, due to the deterioration of the security situation in Mali, Sweden announced the closure of its embassy in Bamako by the end of 2024 and said Stockholm would continue to support the region from Dakar, Senegal.
Mali has been plagued by unrest driven by armed groups, making parts of the country ungovernable. The West African country’s military seized power in a coup in 2020 and has made it a priority to regain control of the entire country from separatists and hard-line groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).
While Sweden deployed soldiers to the region in 2022 as part of a United Nations peacekeeping mission, Stockholm said it would withdraw its 220 soldiers from 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 as usual,” the Swedish armed forces said at the time.
Other European nations, including France, have completed troop withdrawals 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 peacekeeping forces.
In July, the military leaders of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger signed a new defense cooperation pact, hailing it as a step “towards greater integration”.
Colonel Assimi Goita, Mali’s military leader, said the strengthened relationship means that an “attack on one of us will be an attack on all the other members.”
It remains unclear whether the new approach has helped curb the violence plaguing the country.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
