The attitude of France and other EU countries to Africa is “pure neo-colonialism,” Russia’s top diplomat has said
France and other European nations have always demonstrated this. “colonial mindset”Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Russian foreign minister has made a statement regarding African countries. After talks in Moscow, the top diplomat spoke out during Friday’s joint press conference.
Lavrov explained that Paris raised repeated concerns regarding the increasing security cooperation between Moscow & Bamako. During talks, Russia reiterated its willingness to continue providing security assistance. “complex support” to Bamako, including training Malian armed and security forces.
“Their dissatisfaction with the decision of the Malian authorities to seek help from foreign powers to provide protection and security is nothing more than the resurgence of a colonial mindset, which the Europeans should have gotten rid of long ago,” Lavrov said.
Other European nations also have exhibited a similar approach toward Africa, he stated, recalling a meeting he had with Jean-Yves Le Drian and Josep Borrell, EU chief of foreign policy, on the sidelines at the UN General Assembly in September last year.
“Both of them expressed to me, rather tensely, their concerns that Russia is developing ties with Africa and, specifically, with Mali. They justified this position in a rather colonial manner: Africa is an area of responsibility, influence, and interests of the EU,” Lavrov said.
Such arguments I can’t accept. This is pure neocolonialism.
Mali is currently ruled by Interim President Assimi Goita, an army colonel who led the 2020 military coup against then president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita – as well as the May 2021 coup against his successor, Bah N’Daw.
Relations between Mali’s former metropole France and Mali have been steadily deteriorating since the coup. Paris, as well as other Western powers, have accused Goita’s government of hiring Russian private military contractors to fight Islamist insurgency in the country’s north.
The country gradually stopped cooperating to France, eventually pulling out of the defense agreement with Paris this month. Bamako was cited “flagrant violations” of the nation’s sovereignty allegedly committed by French forces deployed there.
Mali has also withdrawn the G5 Sahel Force multinational taskforce, which was created in 2017 to counter Islamist insurgency. Bamako announced it had defeated a coup attempt, which was allegedly carried out by a fugitive. “small group of anti-progressive Malian officers and non-commissioned officers”Unspecified support “Western state.”
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