Mali orders Swedish ambassador to leave within 72 hours
Al Jazeera
The order comes days after a Swedish government minister announced that aid to Mali would be ‘phased out’.
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.
“You cannot support Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine and at the same time receive several hundred million crowns each year in development aid,” Forssell said on Wednesday, commenting on a post on X which said Mali was cutting ties with Ukraine.
The diplomatic spat underscores the broader geopolitical shift unfolding in the Sahel region as three military-led states – Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger – pivot away from traditional Western allies towards Russia.
In June, due to the deteriorating security situation in Mali, Sweden announced the closure of its embassy in Bamako by the end of 2024 and said Stockholm would continue supporting the region from Dakar, Senegal.
