The African Republic of Mali, which recently severed diplomatic relations with Ukraine, faced a new diplomatic conflict, this time with Sweden. On Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mali announced to the Swedish ambassador that he must leave the territory of the country within three days. This became known from a message on the department's official page on the X network.
The main reason for this ultimatum is financial aid. The Swedish Minister for Development Cooperation, Johan Forssel, spoke on social media about the inadmissibility of the fact that Sweden continues to finance Mali to the tune of millions of Swedish kroner annually, while at the same time supporting Ukraine's fight against Russian aggression. Forssel said that Sweden decided to curtail the program of financial assistance to Mali, which became the main reason for the diplomatic conflict.
Mali perceived this statement as hostile, which led to the decision to expel the Swedish ambassador. This diplomatic scandal is a continuation of already existing disputes that began after the Tuareg rebels in Mali announced the destruction of dozens of fighters of the private military company "Wagner". The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine hinted that this result could be achieved thanks to the assistance of Ukrainian special services.
Accordingly, Mali accused Ukraine of supporting international terrorism and severed diplomatic relations with it. The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs resolutely rejected these accusations, stressing that Ukraine has nothing to do with supporting terrorist acts.
