Mali expels Swedish ambassador amid rising tensions with West

MALI – Mali has ordered Sweden’s ambassador, Kristina Kuhnel, to leave the country within 72 hours following what the Malian government described as a “hostile” statement by a Swedish minister, the government announced on Friday.

The expulsion follows Mali’s decision on Monday to sever diplomatic ties with Ukraine, accusing a senior Ukrainian official of suggesting that Kyiv had supported Tuareg rebels.

These rebels reportedly claimed responsibility for killing dozens of Russian Wagner mercenaries and Malian soldiers in July—a claim Ukraine has denied.

Sweden’s Minister for International Development Cooperation and Trade, Johan Forssell, responded on Wednesday, announcing that Sweden would phase out bilateral aid to Mali due to the country’s growing ties with Moscow.

“You cannot support Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine and at the same time receive several hundred million kronor each year in development aid,” Forssell stated on social media platform X.

Over the past decade, Sweden has provided more than US$330 million in assistance to Mali.

Relations between Mali and Western nations have deteriorated since a military junta took power in 2020, followed by another coup in 2021.

Mali, along with its junta-led neighbors Niger and Burkina Faso, had shifted away from traditional Western alliances in favor of closer ties with Russia.

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