In this file photo taken on Oct 15, 2015, Malian Foreign Affairs Minister Abdoulaye Diop addresses the media after talks in Berlin. (TOBIAS SCHWARZ / AFP)

Mali’s foreign ministry has summoned the country’s French ambassador after France’s President Emmanuel Macron questioned the legitimacy of the African nation’s interim leadership.

The French ambassador has been called to a meeting to inform him of the Malian authorities’ disapproval of the France’s President Emmanuel Macron’s comments, Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said in an emailed statement late Tuesday

Tensions between France and Mali have been rising since Mali’s Prime Minister, Choguel Kokalla Maiga, accused France of abandoning his country “mid-flight” in the fight against Islamist militants. Radio France International reported that Macron last week rejected the allegations and said the Malian prime minister’s comments were a disgrace and “dishonors what isn’t even a government.”

The French ambassador has been called to a meeting to inform him of the Malian authorities’ disapproval of the French leader’s comments, Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said in an emailed statement late Tuesday.

France said earlier this year it would scale down its troop presence in Mali to about 2,500 soldiers from just over 5,000 troops in the region now.

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