France intervened in Mali at Bamako's request in January 2013 and kept a counter-terrorism force there under Serval and Barkhane. The military authorities denounced the defence treaty in May 2022 and the last French troops left on 15 August 2022. What came after it is the Russian file.
Un arrangement symétrique : il se lit de la même façon des deux côtés. Rédigé une seule fois, sur une seule fiche.
L’arrangement
- Statut
- EndedEnded, on the date the record states. A historical relationship, not a weakened one.Last material change: 2026-08-13.
- Ce qu’il couvre
- DéfenseLutte antiterroristeStationnementFormationCatégories que l’arrangement est documenté comme incluant. Ce n’est pas une mesure : une relation qui en couvre davantage est décrite plus en détail, non tenue plus fermement.
Synthèse
Operation Serval, launched on 11 January 2013 at the request of the Malian government, stopped the jihadist advance and recaptured the northern towns; Barkhane succeeded it in 2014 as a regional force headquartered in Chad with its main Malian bases at Gao, Timbuktu and Ménaka, under a 2014 defence cooperation treaty. Relations with the post-2020 military authorities deteriorated over the Wagner deployment and the transition timetable: France announced Barkhane's departure from Mali in February 2022, Bamako denounced the 2014 treaty and the status-of-forces arrangements on 2 May 2022, and the last French elements crossed into Niger on 15 August 2022. Since then the relationship has been conducted through expulsions and detentions rather than instruments — the August 2026 pardon and expulsion of a convicted French embassy official is the latest such act — and no security cooperation of any kind exists.
Pourquoi c’est important
Every external-actor question in the module descends from this termination: the Russian presence arrived as the French one left, the AES was built by three governments that had each expelled France, and the northern towns Serval recaptured in 2013 are the ones the 2026 offensives took back. The relationship is historical; its consequences are the module's present.
Accords
- Mali–France defence cooperation treaty · signé le 2014-07 · ended 2022-05-02
Denounced by the transitional authorities together with the status-of-forces arrangements for Serval and Barkhane; text not read.
Événements associés
- Lancement de l’opération Serval 11 janv. 2013
Militaire
- Reprise de Gao et de Tombouctou Janv. – févr. 2013
Militaire · Changement territorial
- La France se retire du Mali Févr. – août 2022
Militaire · Diplomatique
- Goïta gracie un agent de l’ambassade de France condamné et l’expulse 13 août 2026
Politique · Diplomatique
Organisations
Structures par lesquelles cette relation s’exerce. Elles n’y sont pas parties — les parties sont les deux acteurs ci-dessus.
Lieux
Repères que ce module publie déjà. Cette fiche n’ajoute aucune précision géographique qui lui soit propre.
Ce qui reste inconnu
- Any residual intelligence or consular channel between the two governments is not described by either; the record states that the security relationship ended.
Questions Watch que cette relation concerne
Questions analytiques permanentes dont les éléments passent par cette relation, chacune avec sa dernière revue. Dérivées de l’objet Watch, jamais reformulées ici.
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Évalué au — 2026-08 Dernière revue — 2026-09-14