Mali has suspended the issuing of visas to French nationals "until further notice", the country's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday, indicating a further downward spiral in relations between Bamako and its former colonial ruler.
According to the statement, the move was reciprocal as the ministry "learned, with surprise through the press" that the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs put Mali in the "red zone" on the grounds of supposed "strong regional tensions."
"In application of reciprocity, the ministry suspends, until further notice, the issuance of visas to French nationals by the diplomatic and consular services of Mali in France," read the statement.
It was also noted that the French Embassy in the capital, Bamako, suspended the issuance of visas and closed the visa center, as well as the "Capago" call center.
Mali's ministry said these measures were "unilateral" and "unjustified", stressing that they would affect bilateral relations between the two countries.
The regional tensions cited by France refer to the situation in Niger, where the military leadership ousted President Mohamed Bazoum and took over the country on July 26. Following the events, France suspended all development and budgetary aid to the country.
Against this backdrop, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) threatened the country's new leaders with military action and urged them to reinstate the elected president.
However, the military governments of neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso warned that any military intervention against the country would be considered a declaration of war against them. On Monday, they sent a delegation to Niger as a sign of their solidarity with the country's military.
After the meeting, the head of the delegation, Mali's Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization Abdoulaye Maiga, underlined the decision of his country and Burkina Faso to "participate fully in self-defense operations" of the Nigerien forces in the event of an intervention.
In particular, they appealed to the responsibility of the United Nations Security Council and the Peace and Security Council of the African Union to prevent any military intervention against Niger. It was stressed that the security and humanitarian consequences of this move "would be unpredictable, including the disintegration of ECOWAS."
The recent events in Niger are seen as a further illustration of the deterioration of relations between Paris and West African states, including Mali and Burkina Faso, both of which are ruled by military regimes that seized power in the past two years. Last year, after relations between the countries soured, French troops withdrew from Mali, ending a decade-long fight against terrorists in the Sahel region.