Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. Photo: photo.roscongress.org
The main diplomatic event of July (perhaps not only here, but all over the world) is the great Russia-Africa summit. Which took place in St. Petersburg despite pressure from the West. What can we offer the South Continent and what can it offer us? The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova told KP.RU about this.
WE PLAN TO OPEN NEW EMBASSY
— Maria Vladimirovna, what are the relations between Russia and African countries based on now?
– If we take the basis, then this is international law, mutual respect, consideration of the interests of others. And then – the economy, business, finance, the agricultural sector, education, tourism, military-technical cooperation; knowledge-intensive industries such as nuclear power, and much more. In fact, for objective reasons, we had these relationships on hiatus in the 1990s (we won’t go into details that everyone knows very well). And after realizing that we have now reset ourselves and can be a responsible partner, we began to resume our engagement with Africa. We are remembered there, loved, long awaited. No matter how much we arrive, you get off, go down the stairs, and even the technical staff at the airport speak the purest Russian: “We are waiting for the Russian plane! We have been waiting for so many years!”
— Surprisingly, at the same time, not all African countries have our embassies. Not in Somalia, in Niger… Are there plans to open new offices?
– I agree, taking into account those tasks and, most importantly, the historical process that we are now seeing with you, it is necessary to open new embassies. Now, this process has already started, negotiations are underway with several countries. I am not going to name which ones, because this is a sensitive area of the negotiation process. As soon as we agree, we will definitely announce it.
WHAT IS OUR DIFFERENCE WITH THE WEST?
“We hear words like ‘new world order’ more and more frequently. Is this some kind of “American” story?
Not so much American. This is the understanding that the way it was will no longer be. That is, the bipolar system is gone, but the unipolar system “did not happen.” This very center of power in the form of the collective West did not bring it out: it tried too hard, it did not bring it out even at the institutional level. Therefore, a new global era is now dawning. It receives a technical name: multipolarity or polycentricity. Maybe it will be called something else. Realizing this, we build [международные] relationships somewhere new, somewhere returning, somewhere based on completely new messages. But we have a foundation: international law and the fundamental principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.
The Chinese call this a “community with a common destiny.” If we return to the subject of the summit, some experts believe that a “new battle for Africa” has begun.
— I think the West will now fight for everything. Because they understand: their era has passed – the era of domination, the era of “real colonialism” and “hidden colonialism” (in the form of world management through transnational corporations). And they will fight with all their might, only this fight is not based on the opportunities and advantages that they can offer; this is a fight from the point of view of aggression, the confusion under the feet of those who go ahead, is not to destroy, but to create. The West will endlessly set traps – they know how to do this and love it, the technique is perfected.
– It is clear with the West. And what can we offer, even to today’s summit participants?
“People in Africa have been waiting for us for a long time. They are waiting for us because they are tired of oppression and they want someone in the world to fight against this neocolonial logic. They do not want to be treated like “the jungle” as the European diplomat Borrell said. They don’t want anyone to consider themselves a “beautiful garden” due to the fact that resources are endlessly extracted from this so-called “wild jungle.” Africans want the equality to which they are fully entitled. And since they were denied basic rights outright, exploited, forced to survive by their ancestors, or even denied, Africans have even more rights to demand respect and independence.
TO EXPAND BRICS, YOU FIRST NEED TO CREATE A MECHANISM
– Everyone knows that the USSR contributed to the anti-colonial struggle in Africa. But in 1896, the Russian Empire also helped Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) defeat the invading Italians at the Battle of Adua. I think this should also be remembered. If we talk about modernity, the BRICS summit will be held in South Africa in August. What are the main topics that will be discussed there?
— As a rule, the decisions of the BRICS summits create a vector for the development of the entire association in the near future. The same will happen, in fact, in Johannesburg. The leaders of the BRICS countries will discuss current issues on the global and regional agenda, the status and prospects of the multifaceted strategic partnership of our “five” in the political, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres. We hope that special emphasis will be placed on the development of trade and economic cooperation. And given the decline in confidence in the dollar (which was previously widely used in mutual agreements), of course, much attention will be paid to increasing the role of national currencies and the formation of new payment instruments.
And of course, let’s take a look at the priorities of the BRICS president of South Africa this year. South Africa has indicated its interest in promoting inclusive economic growth and sustainable development, including the issues of a just energy transition, strengthening the technological and educational potential of the BRICS countries.
– Here the main topic is the applications for the expansion of the BRICS.
— We share the mood for further development of the BRICS dialogue, in particular, with the African continent. By the way, we encourage interest from everyone who wants to become a new member. There is only one important nuance – the lack of a developed mechanism to expand the BRICS. This is what member countries are doing now. As soon as they develop a common approach, it will be possible to talk about expansion in terms of applications. And at this time, of course, the upcoming meeting in the BRICS+ format plays a special role (this is the format when BRICS invites more than 60 states of the global South and East, including African countries) to its platform.
IS THERE RACISM IN THE STATES?
– For dark-skinned Africans, unfortunately, the topic of the fight against racism is still relevant. Does this problem still exist in the US and Western countries?
– Certainly. Also, the most interesting thing is that they also canceled the word “race”. Do you know that in the US now there is no concept of race, but there is racism? Marvelous. Well, a lot of surprise… When you are faced with a situation in which a man is called a woman, and a woman is a man, and children are told that “they have no gender until they decide”, then this already seems to reflect the supposed “new” normality. And, in fact, an absolute anomaly.
– You once – although before the current “liberal values” spree – worked in the United States and were able to observe a lot with your own eyes.
– Really, in my opinion, they have long been not so much racism as segregation, erected in some kind of cult. Look how segregated they are regarding democracy. They also came up with a “democracy summit”, where they invite countries and distribute stickers to them, hang badges, such posters, which country represents which level of development of democracy. How they generally form the concept of “democracy” – we don’t even ask the question. Or here is a national question. Take and declare that they “cancel Russia.” Because? This is also a question of segregation: these towns are “more necessary” and these are “not necessary”; these “must be used”, and these “cannot be”; and those who do not obey “go to waste”: they do not need to spend vaccines and medicines “on them”, but rather “we must destroy them”. This is just a new level, bordering on neo-Nazism. And where did the kyiv regime come from? This is the result of the same systemic problems.
– Or here is South Africa under apartheid, which, by the way, the USSR also helped to fight …
– Now directly to the issue of racism in the context that you have in mind – that is, the attitude in the United States towards African-Americans, towards representatives of the Latino region, Asia… Those are endless problems. That wasn’t long ago [американские элиты] they simply morally destroyed the Chinese living and working in the United States. First, they stigmatized China and the Chinese for the coronavirus, having no objective information to confirm anything about the origin of the virus, but they blamed the Chinese entirely.
“Three years ago, some prominent Republicans used the term ‘Chinese coronavirus.’
“They were just intimidated. People felt a great impact on themselves. After [американские элиты] poured out on us. Before that, by the way, when there was the 2003 Iraqi campaign, which France did not support, they treated the French in exactly the same way. That is, it is a permanent, systemic issue. If we take attitudes towards African Americans, then I think the BLM movement [«чёрные жизни имеют значение» — ред.] – this is just a movement not against racism, but a phenomenon confirming the existence of racial discrimination.
– Explain.
“Overcoming racism is about bringing society together and solving the problems that divide people. This is the unit. And BLM, and the way it was done, and what it all turned out to, including thanks to the efforts of these “racially obsessed” people who represent the “deep state”, further divided and further exacerbated the situation with racism in the United States. from America. BLM didn’t solve a single problem, but it created a lot of problems and hate among people. In other words, all of this speaks to the systemic nature of the problem of racism in the United States, which no one solves.
AND ABOUT NIGER
– I would like to ask the final question about the most recent events, since we are talking about Africa. In the state of Niger, there has recently been what some have called a “military coup”. There is no Russian embassy there, so talking about Russian interference is just ridiculous … but still, how can one comment on this?
We have already discussed this. We are closely monitoring the development of the situation. We start from the premise that it must be resolved within the framework of legality, peacefully.
