“We absolutely
disagree with the formation of a unipolar world order, and its apologists, like
Zbigniew Brzezinski, said that Washington should become the only power in the world architecture of the new century,” said Leonid Slutsky
Leonid Eduardovich
, leader of the LDPR
faction, Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs, opening the meeting.
Leonid Slutsky thanked the African countries, that despite the difficult times, gathered around Russia as a forward in the movement towards a multipolar world. Thus, the BRICS countries did not share at all the US aspirations for sole power, as he added.
The West is not the “first world”
The First Deputy
Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs Vyacheslav Nikonov
Vyacheslav Alexeyevich
is
convinced that complete decolonization has not yet taken place: the decolonization of the economy, international affairs, and culture is yet to come. According to the parliamentarian, consciousness is the most important
thing that should be decolonized: “We still live in captivity of the Western
paradigm of consciousness, the Western matrix of thinking, and there are a lot
of examples of this.”
“The BRICS countries — G5 -have already more economic capacities than G7. They are not “first world” by any measure. And the fact that they call themselves the first world is racist. Historically, they are actually the last world,” stressed Vyacheslav Nikonov.
The First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs also emphasized that all those present in the hall represented the global majority. “There is an overwhelming majority of people supporting those values of sovereignty, respect for each other, democracy, non-interference in the affairs of others,” added the parliamentarian.
The Chairman of the Committee on Issues of the Commonwealth of Independent States and Contacts
with Fellow Countrymen Leonid Kalashnikov
Leonid Ivanovich
stressed that the West wanted to build a colony on the ruins of the USSR. “We have recently begun to understand
this consciously. And those integration associations that we have established,
for example, the EurAsEC or the CIS, are based on the principles of equality,” stressed
the parliamentarian.
Instruments of neocolonialism
Neocolonialism is a form of imperialism, according to the President of the National Transitional Council of the Republic of Mali Malick Diaw. “There is no secret that the independence that the colonial powers allegedly granted us was another form of oppression,” he said.
According to the parliamentarian, by granting independence to African countries, colonialism still exists on the continent, including transnational companies and non-governmental organizations that have become its main instruments. Speaking about his country, Malick Diaw stressed that Mali “has started a new way and wants the country to be really sovereign.”
The Chairman of South Africa's National Council of Provinces Amos Masondo noted the high level of cooperation between the Republic of South Africa and the Russian Federation. He briefly spoke about the liberation of South Africa from colonial dependence.
According to Amos Masondo, neocolonialism includes foreign capital used to exploit nations. “We should promote economic independence and diversify our economies,” he said.
Martín Crisanto Ebe Mba, the First Secretary of the Presidium of the Senate of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is convinced that the difference between colonialism and neocolonialism lies only in the fact that the colonialism used the direct exploitation of man by man and there was military force.
“After political liberation, the colonies retained the old economic structures and dependence on imports from the metropolises,” he added.
Why Russia is countering neocolonialism?
“It is Russia, and not the United States of America or the Anglo-Saxon countries, that is a reduced copy of the entire diverse world with its colossal fluctuations in economy, faith, standards of living, and climate,” said Nataliya Narotchnitskaya, the President of the non-profit organization Foundation for the Study of Historical Perspective. “Russia truly knows about the life of huts without running water and palaces. It has untold riches and medieval poverty,” she added.
According to the expert, such struggle will not be brief: the world will not change in a year, but the processes have begun, and they are irreversible.
Leonid Slutsky added that the current moment “is the moment of truth not only for Africa, but also for Russia”.
“Whether the ideas of neocolonialism continue and develop or not, it is all the same the relationship of master and servant that our opponents are trying to impose on the life and future of our countries. This is not our way, not the way of our children. We should be together. I am convinced that the parliamentary format will also become more relevant: we should work to ensure that infrastructure projects are being implemented, so that we ourselves, and not someone else in Washington or any other country, determine our development path,” concluded the Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs.
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.
