Margelov tells African parliamentarians about Russian stance on Crimea
MOSCOW. March 20 (Interfax) - Special Representative of the Russian President for Cooperation with African Countries Mikhail Margelov informed African lawmakers about the Russian position in Crimea at a Pan-African Parliament session.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's address to the Federal Assembly regarding Crimea was a subject of debates on the margins of the session, which took place in South Africa earlier this week, Margelov told Interfax.
"Parliament deputies said after our president's speech that the unipolar world order had come to an end. The will that people expressed in the referendum is legitimate and no one has abolished the right to self-determination," Margelov conveyed the position of African parliament leaders.
The parliamentarians said that the West kept applying "double standards" to African countries, he noted.
"The position of former Ghana President Jerry Rawlings, who supported the Russian stance on Crimea to the audience's applause, was remarkable, and Uganda President Yoweri Museveni backed his opinion in an informal conversation with me," Margelov said.
He also met with the African Union leader, the president of Mauritania, on the summit sidelines to discuss the African participation in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and the continuation of the relationship, which President Vladimir Putin started at the BRICS summit in South Africa last year. "Leaders of African states are offering to expand economic cooperation with Russia in general and against the backdrop of possible Western sanctions," Margelov said.
