Finland’s Africa aid cut: Punishment?
Picture: Lehtikuva/Emmi Korhonen via REUTERS/Taken on February 24, 2022 – People hold a demonstration against Russia's invasion of Ukraine in front of the Russian embassy in Helsinki, Finland. The decision of the new Finnish government to deprive African countries supporting Russia of financial assistance is a vivid example of the worst colonial policy in the spirit of European countries, Russia’s State Duma Deputy Speaker Alexander Babakov told Sputnik.
Finland Stopping African Aid is Europe's Worst Colonial Policy: Russian Legislator
Helsinki’s new administration, which was established by the Coalition Party and the True Finns after winning the April legislative elections, intends to reduce help to underdeveloped nations by around one billion euros.
The decision of the new Finnish government to deprive African countries supporting Russia of financial assistance is a vivid example of the worst colonial policy in the spirit of European countries, Russia’s State Duma Deputy Speaker Alexander Babakov told Sputnik.
“This is a vivid example of the worst colonial policy in the spirit of European countries. It is very regrettable that Finland follows the bad example of its older European brothers from the century before last, when they, under the propaganda sauce of the ‘civilisational mission’, were simply engaged in the division of the natural resources of the African continent, and the people inhabiting it were turned into slaves,” Babakov said.
The vice speaker added that now the task of the Europeans is “to bring Africa to its knees and squeeze all the resources out of it, eventually depriving it of sovereignty”.
“In such a situation, our European partners really do not like the position of Russia, which offers African countries equal partnership and mutually beneficial relations while preserving the sovereignty of their states,” he said.
The politician went on to express confidence that no intimidation by the “former colonialists” will affect the decision of African countries on co-operation and interaction with Russia.
“Over the long years of interaction, the African peoples have become convinced of the sincerity and honesty of our attitude towards them. The Russian side is interested in strengthening bilateral relations and co-operation with African countries,” Babakov said.
He called on the Finnish government to remember that their state gained independence and sovereignty only thanks to Russia.
“Until 1917, Finland was part of the Russian Empire and gained independence by a happy accident as a result of the forced abdication of Emperor Nicholas II in March 1917, who also bore the title of Grand Duke of Finland. Therefore, first of all, I want to appeal to the friendly people of Finland – are you sure that you need a government that does not remember its own history?” the parliamentarian said.
Western Media: Africa Loses Faith in West as it was ‘Abandoned’ in Wake of Ukraine Crisis
In mid-February, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Director General Robert Mardini accused the international community of leaving behind “the vast majority of humanitarian settings” across the world and focusing its support only on Ukraine. Mardini argued that there was a “lack of funding” in other regions, starting with Africa.
African countries have lost confidence in Western powers after they turned a blind eye to the continent’s humanitarian crises while continuing their unprecedented support for Ukraine, AFP reported Wednesday.
According to the French publication, citing the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Western aid to Ukraine jumped from less than a billion dollars a year to more than $16 billion in 2022 in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Meanwhile, Western aid to the least-developed countries across the African continent fell by eight percent, to $29 billion, during the same period.
Western backers of Ukraine argue that the aid is essential to shore up a “country whose collapse would send shockwaves across Europe and beyond,” according to the report.
The publication quoted a French government official as saying that during a joint meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington in April, African countries ”expressed fears of a double standard on international aid.”
The Ukraine crisis “lays bare the real face of the great powers in their action with regard” to Africa, AFP quoted a Beninese diplomat as saying ahead of a conference in Paris on poverty and climate finance. The unnamed diplomat added that Africa was being “abandoned”.
The spigot of aid to Ukraine has been open since February 2022, with allies of the Kiev regime amassing more than $150 billion in pledges, most of it in the form of military equipment. In another development, the European Union’s executive commission earlier this week proposed a further $50 billion in aid for “embattled Kiev”, the publication noted.
In addition, Western countries are expected to spend up to $411 billion on Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction.
“You see these enormous sums which at one time were considered an impossibility and which these days are considered possible,” foreign minister of Niger, Hassoumi Massoudou, told the news agency, adding that such aid to the East European country showed that the “resources and mechanisms” that could also be used to support the least developed nations in Africa are available.
The report pointed out that Western nations are facing criticism for failing to provide the annual climate change funding of $100 billion pledged during the 2009 UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen.
The G20’s commitment to rechanneling $100 billion in IMF special drawing rights from developed to vulnerable economies is also unfulfilled. “Loss and damage” funding for poor countries impacted by climate change is still uncertain, despite it being a pivotal point at COP27 in Egypt.
“There’s a crisis of confidence” between donors and developing countries, stressed Elise Dufief, a researcher at France’s Institute of Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI). “When you see the crisis in Ukraine or North American banks which go bankrupt, the response comes very quickly.”
READ: Kiev's Сounteroffensive Does Not Meet West's Expectations: Western Media
SA’s Parliament Suggests Holding Peace Talks Between Russia and Ukraine
The Presidents of Zambia, Comoros, Senegal, South Africa, the Egyptian Prime Minister, Congolese and Ugandan representatives visited President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kiev and President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on June 16 and 17 respectively to discuss the African Peace Initiative on the Ukraine crisis.
According to Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa, cited by local media, the plan is to contact Ukrainian and Russians parliamentarians and propose specific places to discuss issues of nuclear and food security, protection of environmentally sensitive facilities and the exchange of prisoners of war.
Communication with other interested parties will be established in order to achieve positive changes in the ongoing escalation of the conflict in Ukraine and to find a mutually acceptable basis for the start of negotiations
The peace initiative was presented to Putin and Zelenskyy on June 16 by South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa on behalf of six African nations. The 10-point plan, which is based on security guarantees and covers the issues connected to free grain exports across the Black Sea, the release of prisoners and the start of peace talks was discussed last week during the visit of African delegates to Ukraine and Russia.
Zelenskyy told them no peace talks would be possible until Russia withdraws its forces. Russian President Vladimir Putin said some of the points of the African initiative were aligned with Moscow’s stance and the discussion should be continued.
READ: Africa's Peace Mission Won't Be Limited to One Trip, South African Foreign Ministry Says
Articles first published on Sputnik