The European Union plans to impose travel bans and asset freezes on five members of Mali’s junta following a failure by the military rulers to hold elections in February, according to reports.
The measures will take effect later this month and have the backing of all 27 EU member states, the report said.
They follow a raft of sanctions against Mali from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which has condemned the transitional military government’s attempt to extend its rule.
Although military support, high-level political attention and development aid have been provided, the bloc continues to struggle to stabilise the broader Sahel region following coups in Mali, Chad and Burkina Faso. Increasing Islamist militant strength has hardened local sentiment against European intervention.
It was not immediately clear which five individuals would be sanctioned. According to the reports, the members of the junta were targets of ECOWAS, adding that Mali’s foreign and defence ministers will not be targeted in order to keep diplomatic channels open.
While travel bans and asset freezes are unlikely to have a direct impact on the junta in Bamako, they are an attempt by the EU to fulfil its promise to support ECOWAS, even if the measures are more limited than those of the regional bloc.
During escalating tensions between the West African state and its European partners after two coups, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that Mali’s junta was “illegitimate.”
After the junta turned back on its promise to hold elections in February, Mali expelled France’s ambassador on Monday, giving him 72 hours to leave. The junta wants to retain power until 2025.
Additionally, the junta has employed Russian private military contractors, which some European countries have said is incompatible with their mission.
Gabriel Attal, the French government’s spokesman on Tuesday, said Paris was in consultation with its partners about readjusting its regional strategy within two weeks. “It’s certain that things can’t stay as they are,” he told Franceinfo.
Danish troops associated with a European task force in Mali were asked to leave the country by Mali last week. In response, Mali’s government spokesman told France to keep its “colonial reflexes” to itself.
