The meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Confederation of Sahel States (AES) opened on Monday, September 16, 2024, in Bamako, Republic of Mali. This meeting is part of the dynamics of implementing the Treaty establishing the Confederation of Sahel States, signed on July 6, 2024, in Niamey, by the Heads of State of Burkina, Mali and Niger.
During their work, the ministers will discuss measures to coordinate the Confederation’s diplomatic action. Specifically, they will have to examine the proposals of senior officials relating to the diplomacy pillar and the roadmap of the Malian presidency of the Confederation of Sahel States.
At the opening of the proceedings, the Burkinabe Minister of Foreign Affairs, Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré, paid a vibrant tribute to the heads of state of Burkina, Mali and Niger, custodians of the initiative to build a community space. He also expressed the availability of the Burkinabe delegation to fully play its part in the debates, with a view to contributing to the efficient implementation of the will expressed by the three heads of state.
In his official opening speech of the meeting, the Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Abdoulaye Diop, recalled, on this anniversary of the birth of the AES, the path taken by the three countries, from the signing of the Liptako-Gourma Charter to the birth of the Confederation of Sahel States, all of which has shaken up the geopolitical chessboard of the region, the African continent and beyond.
He also denounced Ukraine’s open support for terrorism in the confederate space, while inviting the three countries to do more in their strategy of action on the national and international chessboard, in accordance with the vision of the heads of state and the aspirations of the populations of the ESA space.
DCRP/MAECR-BE