Interim President Of Burkina Faso Traore Speaking At Russia-Africa Summit: Russia Is Part Of The Family For Africa

The second Russia-Africa Summit was held in St. Petersburg on July 27-28, 2023. Following the plenary sessions, President of Russia Vladimir Putin and several African leaders made statements for the media. One the most anticipated speeches was the one by interim President of Burkina Faso Ibrahim Traore, who has been ruling his country  since the September 30, 2022 coup d'état.

In his speech, Traore underlined that "Russia is part of the family for Africa." He said: "Russia has suffered many losses to liberate Europe and the rest of the world from Nazism during the Second World War. We also have the same history in that we are the forgotten nations of the world. This has to do with films and books. The role of Africa and Russia in combating Nazism has been mostly forgotten... What will happen tomorrow in this new, free world which we are striving for, a world without interference in our internal affairs?... We, the heads of African states, must stop acting as puppets ready to act whenever the imperialists pull the strings."

Interim President Of Burkina Faso Ibrahim Traore (Source: Kremlin.ru)

Below is Traore’s speech: [1]

"Russia Has Suffered Many Losses To Liberate Europe And The Rest Of The World From Nazism"

Interim President of Burkina Faso Ibrahim Traore: "Mr. President Vladimir Putin,

"Mr. Chair of the African Union, heads of delegations, good afternoon.

"It is a great honor for me to address you today and to bring you the brotherly greetings of our peoples. First of all, I would like to thank the Almighty for allowing us to meet here and to talk about the future welfare of our peoples.

"I would also like to apologize to the elders. Please, forgive me if I have wronged you in any way. My generation is asking many questions without getting any answers, but we feel at home, in our family here.

"Russia is part of the family for Africa, because we have the same history. Russia has suffered many losses to liberate Europe and the rest of the world from Nazism during the Second World War. We also have the same history in that we are the forgotten nations of the world. This has to do with films and books. The role of Africa and Russia in combating Nazism has been mostly forgotten. We have come together today because we need to talk about our countries’ future. What will happen tomorrow in this new, free world which we are striving for, a world without interference in our internal affairs? We have the same prospects. I hope that this summit will give us an opportunity to strengthen ties between our nations.

"I cannot understand why Africa, with its huge mineral resources, water and sun, is the poorest continent where hunger abounds, and why we have to ask for help. We ask these questions, but we are not getting any answers. We have a chance to build a new kind of relations. I hope that these relations will serve us better and will allow us to create a better future for our peoples.

"I can say on behalf of my generation that many people, driven by poverty, cross the oceans in search of a better life, and many of them die. Our people are starving and struggling to stay alive.

"As for Burkina Faso, for the past eight years we have been fighting the most barbaric and cruel form of colonialism and imperialism, which are forcing a modern form of slavery on us. We have learned one thing very well: a slave who cannot protest deserves nothing more than pity, and his future is miserable. We did not wait for anybody to take care of us. We decided to fight the terrorists who are preventing our development.

"In this struggle, our courageous people decided to take up arms against terrorism. We were surprised to learn that imperialists refer to them as armed groups or militarized groups, while calling people in Europe who take up arms to defend their homeland patriots. Our forefathers were deported to save Europe, and this happened against their will. But when they came back and tried to assert their basic rights, they faced cruel repression.

"The problem is not when people decide to take up arms. The problem is that the leaders of African countries do not bring anything to people fighting imperialism, calling us armed groups or criminals. We do not agree with this approach. We, the heads of African states, must stop acting as puppets ready to act whenever the imperialists pull the strings.

"Yesterday, President Putin announced grain deliveries to Africa, and we were very glad to hear about it and are grateful for this decision. This also sends a message to the heads of African states because we must make sure that before we come here for the next forum, we ensure that our nations are self-sufficient and have the food they need. We must rely on the experience of African countries who have been able to achieve this objective and reinforce our cooperation in this field by strengthening our relations with the Russian Federation in order to meet the needs of our people.

"I am almost out of time, but I would like to say that we must pay tribute to our nations who fight and struggle. Glory to our nations! Dignity and respect for our nations! Victory to our nations! Thank you, comrades. Homeland or death!"

"The Soviet Union And Russia Led This Struggle For The Sake Of All Humankind"

Vladimir Putin: "Thank you, Mr. Traore.

"I wanted to draw your attention to the fact that my colleague has just mentioned Russia’s role in fighting Nazism. Some are trying to forget about this and to erase this memory. However, the Soviet Union and Russia led this struggle for the sake of all humankind, to rid the whole world of Nazism.

"I would like to point out that Africa has also fought for its independence and against apartheid, and not only for its own sake. In fact, it waged this struggle in the interests of all of humanity because this struggle brings about results which elevate relations around the world to a whole new level. This means that these efforts improve the situation around the world. In this sense, I definitely agree with Mr Traore. The struggles the Soviet Union had to wage and what is happening now with Russia are very much similar to what Africa experienced as it fought for achieving genuine independence and freedom."