He took office last Thursday, three days ago, discreetly. A new charge d’affaires has arrived at the French Embassy in Bamako. Nearly three months after the expulsion of the French ambassador, which had been notified to him on January 31, the arrival of this new diplomat went smoothly with the Malian transitional authorities. But she is a very clear sign that things are not getting better between Paris and Bamako
In diplomatic jargon, it is said that it is a “charge d’affaires on foot” who replaces an “charge d’affaires ad interim”. Since the expulsion of Joël Meyer, at the end of January, it is his number two who had to take the reins of the embassy in Bamako. The ambassador remaining officially in post, but from Paris, where he is officially “ at the disposal of the Minister of Foreign Affairs “.
The new charge d’affaires, Marc Didio, is a former squadron leader of the gendarmerie, where he has, according to the Official Journal, sixteen years of service. Before being appointed to Bamako, Marc Didio was number two at the French embassy in Abidjan, after having also been posted to Algiers. From diplomatic sources, his arrival comes “ muscle ” the team of the French Embassy in Mali, subject to “ great pressure. »
The arrival of this charge d’affaires confirms in any case that the return of an ambassador is not on the agenda.
Contacts are still tense and virtually non-existent between Paris and Bamako. The new charge d’affaires took up his duties without difficulty, but a diplomatic source explains that at this level of responsibility, the approval of the Malian authorities is not necessary. A simple letter of introduction is sufficient. ” They couldn’t block it, specifies this source, except to initiate a more advanced diplomatic rupture procedure “.
This situation puts the two countries on an “equal footing”: the Malian embassy in France is also headed by a charge d’affaires, since the recall to Bamako in February 2020 of the former ambassador, who had accused the French soldiers of Barchan to frequent “ the Pigalles of Bamako ».
In recent weeks, in addition to the beginning of Barkhane’s withdrawal, France has suspended its security cooperation with Mali and reduced its civil cooperation to focus in particular on direct support for NGOs.