Following the cabinet decision, the German government has cleared the way for its troops to engage in a European Union military mission in Niger. Germany intends to send up to 60 soldiers to Niger as part of an EU operation to assist the Niamey administration in strengthening its armed forces.
The German parliament will make the final choice on Berlin’s participation, with a vote scheduled for the end of April. In December, the EU agreed to launch a three-year military mission to Niger. 50 to 100 European soldiers at first, and up to 300 later, will assist the nation in improving its logistics and infrastructure.
Niger, one of the world’s poorest countries, is seen as vulnerable to a violent spillover from neighbouring Mali, where armed groups are gaining ground following the departure of French and other European forces.
The German army has been training Niger’s special forces with 150 soldiers since 2018, but the mission was completed at the end of 2022.
Some 1,100 German troops remain in neighbouring Mali, the majority of them near the northern city of Gao, where their primary purpose is to gather reconnaissance for a UN peacekeeping mission.
This mission has been hampered by recurring disagreements with Mali’s ruling military government, as well as a growing Russian military presence in the country, which has caused concern in the West.
Germany resolved in November to withdraw its troops from Mali by May 2024, following the lead of France and other European countries such as the United Kingdom.
Since a military coup in 2020 and the government’s invitation to fighters from the Wagner Group, a Kremlin-linked private military company to assist in the battle against the insurgents, Europe’s ties with Mali have deteriorated.
