Bulgaria Will Continue to Contribute to Sahel Security and Stability
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“Bulgaria will continue to contribute to security and stability in the Sahel region through its participation in missions under the EU’s Common Security and Defense Policy,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Petko Doykov said during the first meeting of foreign ministers of the International Coalition for the Sahel, which took place by video conference. “We confirming that we are going to dispatch a four-member military medical team to the EU mission for training the security forces of Mali, regardless of the alarming situation on the ground,” Doykov said.
He went on to add that, apart from financial support, the coalition’s efforts should also target education, job creation, human development and the reduction of inequalities.
In his statement Petko Doykov offered his condolences to the victims of yesterday’s attack in the northern part of Cote d’Ivoire, near the border with Burkina Faso.
The Sahel region covers the countries of the G5 Sahel: Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso, Niger and Mauritania.
The Coalition for the Sahel, presented at the Pau Summit of 13 January 2020, aims at uniting all partners that want to contribute to the Sahel’s stabilization and development. The Coalition is important in view of the need to structure the international community’s efforts on the Sahel more efficiently. The Coalition rests on four pillars: 1. Combating terrorism. 2. Strengthening the G5 Sahel countries’ security and defense capabilities. 3. Restoring government presence and providing basic services, including capabilities for maintaining domestic security and law and order and criminal justice on the entire territories for the purpose of their stabilization. 4. Strengthening efforts in the sphere of development assistance.
Today’s meeting was attended by more than 40 foreign ministers (of EU Member States, African Union countries and G5 Sahel countries).
The video conference was organized on the initiative of the EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, French Foreign Jean-Yves Le Drian and Mauritanian Foreign Minister Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.