PRETORIA, 10 January 2022, (TON): The Emergency Summit of the Economic Community of West African Countries (ECOWAS) adopted a new package of sanctions against Mali, the country’s military leadership and government.

This was reported by Agence France-Presse with reference to one of the participants in the meeting, which took place in the capital of Ghana, Accra.

According to him, the new sanctions are very harsh, as the Malian authorities have failed to meet the ECOWAS timeframe for the country’s return to civilian government and are not ready to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in February 2022.

The AFP interlocutor noted that the community has now actually returned to the format of the sanctions that were imposed on Mali at the time of the military coup in August 2020. These included the closure of the border with Mali, the imposition of an embargo on financial transactions and trade except for essential goods.

On the agenda of the current ECOWAS summit was the question of a response to a letter from the military authorities of Mali, which proposed a timetable for a transitional period, which should end in December 2026 with a presidential election.

The letter also proposed holding a constitutional referendum in January 2024, local elections in April 2025, and parliamentary elections in November 2025, the Malian news portal GJ informed.