The UN Security Council has recently adopted a resolution lifting the arms embargo against the government of the Central African Republic (CAR). The document was submitted by France and approved unanimously.
It was distinctly difficult for the French representative to do so. The Fifth Republic had to accept the inevitable and lose a very powerful influence mechanism over its resource-rich former colony – UN sanctions.
The resolution orders the lifting of the arms embargo on CAR, which was imposed in 2013. In addition, the document bans the supply of arms, equipment, as well as technical assistance, training, financial or other assistance related to military activities or the provision, maintenance or use of any arms and related materiel to armed groups operating in the country.
UN sanctions on CAR were enacted following the outbreak of the civil war between the Anti-Balaka and Seleka coalitions of tentatively Christian and Muslim parties and tribes. That did not work even in the 1970s, it just inflated the black market for arms and mercenaries and raised prices.
At the same time, the French military operation Sangaris was launched, which lasted from 2013 to 2016 and was a complete failure. The UN peacekeeping forces (MINUSCA) did not help either. Besides, the mission was staffed by poor countries in Asia and Africa, and their troops were driven solely by money-making, involved in violence against the local population and arms smuggling.
At the same time, the CAR has shown significant progress in the humanitarian sphere and in rebuilding the country after decades of civil war. The process of disarming former militants is going on in parallel with the re-establishment of education and medical systems in the conflict regions. As soon as tribal groups are disarmed, teachers and doctors immediately appear in the area, vaccines against tropical diseases arrive, and child mortality is reduced. Slavery is eradicated, women’s rights improved, early marriages banned. All of this has been accomplished in just a few years.
Russia is playing the most important role in this improvement. In many schools in CAR, and not only in the capital, Russian is taught as the primary foreign language, and French is gradually being phased out of the educational sphere, although no one had set such a goal. The number of students from CAR who come to Russia has increased sharply.
In a broader context, ending local wars and conflicts is the key need for Africa today. In CAR, Russia has demonstrated both the will and the ability to solve these issues. The establishment of peace in the CAR led to the regaining of the country’s sovereignty, including in foreign policy and diplomacy.
The cooperation demonstrated by Russia in Africa has largely influenced the position of many African political forces, which have declared their orientation toward the Russian model of development as opposed to the forms of neo-colonialism proposed by France and other Western countries. Before us is a huge victory for Russian diplomacy and, in general, for the policy that Moscow has chosen on the continent. The removal of sanctions from CAR is nothing but a clear confirmation of the positive result of this work. Such Russian success in Africa has not been recorded since the Soviet era.
Well, Emmanuel Macron has no choice but to increase France’s foreign sovereign debt, for the former colonies are one by one slipping out of the former metropolis control.
