MP questions Eswatini’s ties with Russia amid war
MBABANE – Maseyisini Member of Parliament (MP) Mduduzi ‘Small Joe’ Dlamini has questioned why Eswatini was getting closer to the Russian Federation amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The legislator requested the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperations, Thuli Dladla, to explain why the country was getting closer to the Russian Federation knowing well that the whole world was against the war waged by Russia against Ukraine.
Report
This was contained in written responses of the ministry’s portfolio committee annual performance report presentation made in Parliament over a week ago. The minister said Eswatini harboured no hard feelings against any country and this position was consistent with the country’s foreign policy, which clearly spells out that ‘Asinasitsa’, meaning the Kingdom of Eswatini does not have enemies and certainly does not interfere in the affairs of other countries.
“Eswatini steadfastly supports the idea of peaceful resolutions of con
Maseyisini Member of Parliament Mduduzi ‘Small Joe’ Dlamini has questioned why Eswatini was getting closer to the Russian Federation amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict. flicts and not taking sides,” responded the minister. This publication previously reported that the Russian Government asserted that it stood ready to assist Eswatini in strengthening the security of the kingdom and its armed forces. This was the response that was given by the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Eswatini, Alexander Surikov, during a press conference held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Mbabane over a month ago.
This publication had asked the ambassador if his country had army personnel training army recruits at Mbuluzi Army Barracks. The ambassador was also asked if his country, by any chance, would assist the kingdom if it needed assistance to strengthen its security as well as the army in times of need.
In response, the ambassador said that would depend on discussions the two countries might have. He stated that in any case, it was always up to the Ministry of Defence to develop a method it would like to use to strengthen its military force.
Defence
Surikov said if the need arose for the defence wing to reach out to the Russian Federation Defence, they would gladly assist. Ndzingeni MP Lutfo Dlamini also enquired from the minister why the Russian Federation was not assisting emaSwati with more scholarships and Dladla responded by stating that the Russian Federation continued to offer scholarship support to emaSwati across all spheres of society, for example the army, students pursuing medical and engineering degrees and other different scholarships.
Meanwhile, Lutfo enquired on the fertiliser that was pledged to the country by Russia Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov, but the question was posed to minister of Agriculture, Jabulani Mabuza, during his ministry’s presentation of its annual performance report.
The minister was on a two-day diplomatic visit to Eswatini early this year where he met the prime minister and some Cabinet members and discussions evolved on collaborations between the two countries to improve the lives of its citizens.
Charge
The minister mentioned that last summer the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, told the United Nations (UN) that over 280 000 tonnes of fertiliser was stored in European ports and was stacked and the company that owns the fertiliser said it was ready to supply all of it free of charge to countries that were in need of it.
He mentioned that the only thing to be done was to ensure that it was supplied to countries that were indeed in need.
However, that has not yet happened as Ndzingeni MP put it to Mabuza to explain whether this was a gimmick move by the Russian diplomat to buy emaSwati’s faces.