A round table discussion on the topic “Indivisible Security: Capabilities and Contributions of Parliaments” was held as part of the events the Second International Conference “Russia – Africa” in Moscow.
“The challenges
that our friends from African countries and the challenges that the Russian
Federation are facing today, are similar in many ways. The world is developing
rapidly, and in this new world we want justice, equal rights and multipolarity,” said the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Petr Tolstoy
Petr Olegovich
,
opening the discussion.
The Head of the Secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Oleg Ozerov stressed that Russia's position remained clear and unchanged: “There should be African solutions to African problems. We are against interference in internal processes. But we support joint efforts to address those issues together.”
Importance of inter-parliamentary dialogue
“No nation can achieve security on its own, alone. There is no security in an unsafe environment. Security requires a global approach,” said the President of the Transitional Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Burkina Faso Ousmane Bougouma.
He called on the parliamentarians of different states to join their efforts: “I would like to emphasize the importance of international cooperation. This direction is fundamental in cooperation between countries.”
“Inter-parliamentary exchange in the field of discussing security issues can contribute to the development of effective proposals, which would help resolve conflicts,” Ousmane Bougouma said and added that the parliamentarians could offer non-violent solutions to various warring parties.
The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Parliament of South Africa Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula noted the importance of maintaining the values of humanity and tolerance towards each other. She recalled that during the COVID pandemic, many countries preferred to care only about their own safety, and as a result African states did not receive enough vaccines and lost human lives.
“There are still issues of climate change, poverty, human rights violations and become a threat to peace and security, economy and the peaceful existence of people around the world,” she said.
“We should support all humanity. And there still be humanness in us and only in the case when we treat others as tolerantly as possible,” stressed Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.
The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Parliament of South Africa also emphasized the importance of compliance with international treaties. Jacob Mudenda, the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Zimbabwe, agreed with her.
“The UN Charter, international law is manipulated as they want to use the law,” the parliamentarian said.
“You should remember when the UK and the US invaded Iraq, used the prejudice that weapons of mass destruction were developed there. As practice later showed, this weapon did not exist there. But there were no sanctions after this military response. However, the International Criminal Court has already issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin,” stressed Jacob Mudenda.
The President of the National Council of the Transition of the Republic of Guinea Dansa Kourouma noted the problem of imbalance in diplomatic relations in the context of neo-colonialism.
“The unilateral approach has become the rule,” he said. “It is important take into account and respect the sovereignty of states,” he added.
Dansa Kourouma also called for a more active fight against poverty, since such situations when people do not have access to a minimum set of services lead to insecurity in such countries.
Countering the US biological threats
The Chairman of the Committee on Security and Corruption Control Vasily Piskarev
Vasily Ivanovich
told his
African colleagues about the activities of the Parliamentary Commission on Investigation into the Activities of the US Biological Laboratories in Ukraine.
“Growth of international terrorism, drug trafficking, proliferation of nuclear and biological weapons are becoming serious threats, and this is recognized by all countries,” said the parliamentarian.
“The world is becoming unprotected from the Pentagon’s military biological threats,” stressed Vasily Piskarev.
The parliamentarian suggested that parliamentarians from African countries “join efforts to protect our nations and jointly speak at international platforms, like the UN and other organizations, and demand the implementation of the provisions of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons (BTWC) and on Their destruction.”
“The most serious thing is the systematic disregard by a group of states guided by the United States of America of the fundamental norms and principles of international law, the use of methods of sanctions pressure, violation of the sovereignty of states and interference in their internal affairs,” he emphasized.
On 19–20 March 2023, the State Duma hosts the Second International Parliamentary Conference “Russia – Africa” in Moscow.
More than 40 official parliamentary delegations from almost all African countries will take part in the Conference. Representatives of the scientific, educational and expert communities from Russia and African countries, members of the State Duma, federal executive authorities, senators of the Federation Council, chairmen of the legislative bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, representatives of the business community will also take part in the events of the Conference.
The objectives of the Conference are to strengthen parliamentary cooperation with African countries in the conditions of formation of a multipolar world, to develop relations and develop common approaches to legal regulation in the economy, science and education and security.
On March 19, on the first day of the Conference, there will be held the following round tables:
On March 19, there will be also held a business breakfast with participation of the parliamentary delegations of African states and Russian business representatives.
On March 20, there will be held a plenary session of the International Parliamentary Conference entitled “Russia-Africa in the multipolar world”.
As part of the events of the Conference, the Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin will hold bilateral meetings with several heads of delegations, speakers of parliaments and chambers of parliaments of African countries.
The Conference is planned to be held just few months before the Second Russia-Africa Summit, which is planned to be held on July 2023 in Saint Petersburg.
The First International Conference “Russia – Africa” was held in Moscow in 2019.
