Times Of Harvard

Mali called on France Wednesday to “restrain itself” from delivering “unfriendly and derogatory” remarks against the military government of the West African country. The “unfriendly and derogatory remarks” are likely to “harm the development of friendly relations between the nations,” the Malian Foreign Ministry said in a brief message to Anadolu Agency . The statement came after the Malian Foreign Ministry Tuesday summoned the French ambassador to Bamako to express its “displeasure” after French President Emmanuel Macron criticized the Malian government. The verbal exchange was sparked by Macron’s remarks on Mali last Thursday, made on the sidelines of the Africa 2020 event at the Elysee Palace – where he questioned the legitimacy of the current government in Mali. “We presided over the national tribute to Sergeant Maxime Blasco (a French soldier killed in Mali on Sept. 24) and he is buried among his own. What the Malian prime minister said is unacceptable. This is a disgrace. And it

NATO canceled the accreditation of eight members of the Russian mission on Wednesday, saying they were "undeclared Russian intelligence officers." A NATO official said the alliance reduced the number of positions Russia can accredit from 20 to 10. Noting that NATO's policy to Russia remains consistent, the official said: "We have strengthened our deterrence and defense in response to Russia's aggressive actions, while at the same time we remain open for a meaningful dialogue." According to Russian news agency Interfax , Leonid Slutsky, head of the Russian lower house of parliament's international affairs committee, said: "Moscow would retaliate." Relations between NATO and Russia have been strained, especially after the country’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the alleged poisoning of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny last year. NATO canceled the accreditation of seven Russian officials in 2018 for the poisoning of former Russi