Mozambique: Abstention in UN vote against Russia’s war in Ukraine in line with constitution – ex-minister

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Mozambique: Abstention in UN vote against Russia’s war in Ukraine in line with constitution – ex-minister

12:52 CAT | 26 Apr 2022

Image: Lusa

Mozambique’s former foreign affairs and cooperation minister Leonardo Simão has argued that Maputo’s abstention at the United Nations in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine follows a constitutional principle, which gives priority to dialogue.

He said: “It is written in the constitution: Mozambique gives primacy to negotiated solutions to conflicts. This is why Mozambique’s position is in accordance with the constitution,” Leonardo Simão told Lusa in Maputo on Monday.

According to the former head of Mozambican diplomacy, between 1994 and 2005, this principle established in the constitution is the result of the experience that the country gained during years of armed conflict, from the liberation struggle against the Portuguese colonial regime to the 16-year civil war.

“The conflicts in which Mozambique was involved, in one way or another, had solutions from dialogue,” added Leonardo Simão.

On the other hand, the former minister continued, Mozambique has “excellent relations” with all the parties involved, with a considerable number of national students having trained in both Russia and Ukraine.

“Mozambique has two friends fighting and, being the third, what it has to do is try to unite them. Further exacerbating the tempers of one towards the other is not going to help. On the contrary, it will only delay dialogue, which sooner or later will have to happen,” said Leonardo Simão.

“As long as the level of anger and negative feelings is high, there will be no dialogue,” said Simão, who is Mozambique’s Ambassador-at-Large, based in Maputo.

The United Nations General Assembly on March 24 approved with an overwhelming majority of 140 votes a resolution holding Russia responsible for the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine due to the war.

Of the 193 United Nations member states, the resolution, presented by France and Mexico and supported by Ukraine, received 140 votes in favour, five against and 38 abstentions, in a group that, besides Mozambique, includes Angola and Guinea-Bissau.

The Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo, a party in power since independence) was an ally of Moscow during the time of the former USSR, receiving military support during the fight against Portuguese colonialism and economic aid after independence in 1975.

Russia launched a military offensive in Ukraine on 24 February that has already killed more than 2,000 civilians, according to UN data, which warns that the actual number is likely to be much higher.

The military offensive has already caused more than 12 million people to flee, more than 5 million of them out of the country, according to the latest UN figures – the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).

Source: Lusa