ESWATINI MP, OTHERS’ RUSSIA VISIT ANGERS UKRAINE

MBABANE – Some African MPs have angered Ukraine by visiting the Donetsk Region of Ukraine, temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation.

The Members of Parliament (MPs) are members of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), and among them was Mbabane East MP Welcome Dlamini. The PAP members comprised of a delegation of 17 parliamentarians that included an Eswatini MP, and the visit was undertaken this past week.  The visit of the PAP delegation came at a time when the Russian Federation took over Ukraine’s Donetsk Region, where the Russian army is reportedly making advances amid ongoing clashes. Donetsk Region belongs to industrialised regions of Ukraine.

Timing

In a statement that was issued by Ukraine’s ministry of Foreign Affairs, following the visit of the African delegation and the timing, it was stated that the African parliamentarians showed gross disrespect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and disregarded the fundamental principles of international law.  “The ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expresses a strong protest in connection with the visit of a delegation of the Pan-African Parliament consisting of representatives of Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda, South Sudan, the Comoros Islands, Equatorial Guinea, Djibouti, Eswatini, Zambia, Somalia and Mozambique to the territory of the Donetsk Region of Ukraine, temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation,” reads the statement.

The ministry stated that by taking part in the Russian propaganda campaign, the African parliamentarians showed gross disrespect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and disregarded the fundamental principles of international law. “The statements made by them during this visit about opposing colonialism, made on Ukrainian land illegally seized by Russia in the course of the neo-colonial war of aggression against Ukraine, are completely absurd,” reads the statement. Adding, Ukraine stated that the visit by the African delegation contradicts the spirit of friendship and mutual respect that characterise Ukraine’s relations with the States of the African continent and causes serious damage to the reputation of the PAP, which was established in 2004 as one of the organs of the African Union (AU), in particular with the aim of promoting peace, security and stability.

The statement further stated that the visit contradicts the Joint Statement of the Chairperson of the African Union, and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission dated February 24, 2022, which calls on Russia and other regional or international actors to imperatively respect international law, the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of Ukraine. “We would like to hope that this visit and the statements made during it do not reflect the official position of the African Union and the Pan-African Parliament.”

Ukraine demanded that the leadership of the African Union and the Pan-African Parliament must strongly condemn the visit of its representatives to the territory of the Donetsk Region of Ukraine, temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, and to avoid any contact with representatives of the Russian occupation administration in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Noteworthy, Eswatini has abstained from voting whenever African bodies and other international bodies, such as the United Nations (UN) and AU, stated their stance in the Russia and Ukraine war, which started in 2022.

Relations

Eswatini has a number of bilateral relations with the Russian Federation which range from military and medicine, among others. Just last year, the Russian Federation Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov visited Eswatini with his delegation, where he expressed Russia’s interest in more areas of collaboration. Eswatini also has strong relations with the European Union (EU), which forms part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), which is a transatlantic alliance of 32 like-minded North American and European countries securing peace since 1949, which is heavily against Russian operations in Ukraine.

Given the complexity of the relations Eswatini has with these organisations and the country, efforts to get the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pholile Shakantu, to explain whether the country’s foreign policy and relations with these organisations, especially those under the EU or NATO is concerned, proved futile as the text message that was sent to her had not been responded to at the time this report was compiled. The Government Spokesperson, Alpheous Nxumalo, referred all questions surrounding Eswatini’s partaking in the visit to the Clerk to Parliament, Benedict Xaba.

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