The Egmont Institute has the pleasure to invite you to an Africa Lunch Meeting on 21 May 2019 with General Jean-Paul Deconinck, former Force Commander for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and former Commander of the Belgian Armed Forces’ Land Forces. Drawing on his 18-months experience as Force Commander for MINUSMA, General Deconinck will examine the need for continued engagement by EU and European states in Mali and the wider Sahel region. Both the EU as an organisation and individual member states have been involved in the region for several years, yet in spite of this, the security situation is deteriorating, with negative impacts for the population. If the vicious circle of violence is not interrupted in the near future, there is a strong risk of spill-over effects to the wider region, which would open new terrains for violent extremism.