© 2022 IAI IAI PAPERS 22 | 08 - MAY 2022
ISSN 2610-9603 | ISBN 978-88-9368-246-6
European Union | CFSP | Sahel | Mali | Russia
The EU’s Diplomatic Engagement
in the Sahel
by Bernardo Venturi
keywords
ABSTRACT
What does it mean in practice for the European Union that the
Sahel is a priority? Which political and operational aspects and
issues are prioritised and what can change in the future? To
address these issues, the EU’s European diplomatic habitus
in the Sahel is frst analysed and critically assessed. Then, the
emerging narratives used by the EU’s institutions and political
leaders to defne, describe and address policy issues in the
Sahel-Saharan region are closely considered. It emerges that
the EU has generally followed African regional organisations in
reacting to the recent coups in the Sahel, for example through
sanctions. Yet, the growing role of Russia has meant that the
EU’s diplomatic habitus has been jolted forwards. In addition,
while the EU continues to play a central diplomatic role in the
Sahel and has a sophisticated diplomatic infrastructure, there
is a risk of Brussels lowering its prioritisation of this region in
the near future due to regional and global factors.
With the support of the
Erasmus+ Programme
of the European Union