On Monday, 8 February, Ingrid Amer, Estonia’s first ambassador to Mali, presented her credentials to the West African country’s president of the transition, Bah N’Daw; Estonia and Mali are closely linked by defence cooperation – Estonia is currently part of three missions aimed at bolstering Mali’s security.
After the presentation ceremony, N’Daw and Amer spoke about the bilateral relations of Estonia and Mali and how these ties could be enhanced further. The president said that appointing an Estonian ambassador to Mali was a great step – dialogue with Estonia is important both for bilateral relations as well as in light of Estonia’s elected membership in the UN Security Council. At the end of the meeting, the N’Daw extended an invitation to the president of Estonia to visit Mali.
Amer also met with the president of the transition council, Malick Diawi, defence minister Sadio Camara and the secretary general of the foreign ministry, ambassador Boubacar Gouro Diallo.
“The representatives of Mali were interested in Estonia’s success with reforms. They noted that the country was making progress despite the precarious security situation. Strengthening state rule and ensuring public services throughout the country is crucial for increasing the trust of the population in the state,” the Estonian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Estonia contributing to Mali’s security
Estonia and Mali are closely linked by defence cooperation. Estonia is currently part of three missions aimed at bolstering Mali’s security: the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSMA, the EU training mission EUTM Mali and French-led Operation Barkhane and its Takuba Task Force.
Amer graduated with a degree in philology from the University of Tartu. She joined the foreign service in 1995. She has worked at Estonian embassies in Warsaw, Helsinki and Prague. Between 2013 and 2018, she was the deputy head in the Estonian embassy in Paris and between 2016 and 2018, she was the Estonian ambassador to UNESCO.
As the ambassador to Mali, Amer will reside in Tallinn.
Mali is a landlocked country in West Africa, the eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of just over 1,240,000 square kilometres (480,000 sq mi). The population of Mali is 19.1 million and its capital is Bamako. The country’s economy centres on agriculture and mining; one of Mali’s most prominent natural resources is gold – the country is the third largest producer of gold on the African continent.
Cover: Ingrid Amer, Estonia’s first ambassador to Mali, presented her credentials to the West African country’s president of the transition, Bah N’Daw. Photos by the Estonian foreign ministry.
