FRANCE and Mali have suspended issuing visas to each other’s citizens in a heightening of a row between the former allies, diplomats said today.

The French embassy suspended issuing new visas in Mali capital Bamako earlier this week after Paris placed the country in a “red zone” of countries its citizens are strongly advised to avoid.

Mali’s junta responded by freezing new visas for French citizens at its embassy in Paris in an act of “reciprocity”, Mali’s Foreign Ministry said.

On Monday, the French Foreign Ministry issued a travel guidance update saying “in the current context of strong regional tensions, all travel to Mali is strongly not advised. French citizens in Mali are urged to show the greatest vigilance”.

The higher security classification entailed a “reorganisation” of services at the French embassy, which means it is “unable to issue visas until further notice”, said French online visa service provider Capago.

In a statement posted to social networks late yesterday, Mali’s Foreign Ministry said it learnt of the reclassification “with surprise”.

It said it would apply “reciprocity” and suspend visas issued in Paris.

France and Mali fell out after the military seized power in Bamako in 2020, ousting President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita over failures to stem a bloody jihadist insurgency.

As the dispute escalated and the junta brought in Russian paramilitaries, France began to pull out its anti-jihadist force under a phased withdrawal that ended last year.

The bilateral spat coincided with a surge in regional tensions sparked by a July 26 coup in Niger, a key French ally.

The Capago website said France has suspended issuing visas in Burkina Faso, another one-time ally in the Sahel, which underwent two coups last year. – AFP, August 10, 2023.