Horn of Africa Russia’s power in Africa worries EU – Putin’s talk of fascism spreads and Sudan’s gold eases sanctions

Sudan’s gold mines are said to be the source of Russia’s working capital. The mercenary group Wagner’s operations in Africa are becoming self-sufficient, says EU Special Representative Annette Weber.

To Sudan has long been a planned Russian naval base. If implemented, it would also affect the Red Sea trade route, through which 23% of EU trade passes.

The stability of the region is very important for Europe, says the EU Special Representative for the Horn of Africa Annette Weber.

He is particularly concerned about the situation in Sudan. Sudan has a lot to guard: it connects the Sahel region off the Atlantic coast with the Red Sea and Libya’s Horn of Africa.

The Sudanese rose Omar al-Bashirin against long-term authoritarian rule in 2018-2019 and overthrew it. That’s when hope arose that went out for last October’s military coup.

“Right now, the situation is pretty critical. There is practically an army in power, ”Weber says.

The army, on the other hand, has close ties with Russia. This was evidenced, for example, by the Sudanese paramilitary leader Mohamed “Hemedti” Hamdan Daglo visited Moscow after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.

According to some sources, Sudan is currently one of Russia’s largest sources of gold and thus the wealth it uses. British newspaper The Telegraph wrote in March that Russia smuggled up to 30 tons of gold a year through Sudanese military airports. In this way, it would have prepared for possible additional sanctions. The sources were Sudanese mining operators who appeared anonymously.

Also A businessman known as “Putin’s chef” Jevgeni Prigožinin has been told operating in the area. Prigožin is funding a private mercenary group, Wagner, whose soldiers are said to be fighting in Ukraine. Its forces have been used in Syria, Libya and the Central African Republic, among others, to advance Russia’s goals.

Read more: HRW: Russian mercenaries suspected of involvement in operation killing 300 civilians in Mali

Read more: Such is the Wagner force of mercenaries attached to Russia, who have traveled to Ukraine with President Zelenskyi

In Sudan, the Wagner Group has allegedly focused on protecting gold mines. In particular, Wagner supports the RSF, the armed Janjaweed forces that carried out the genocide in Darfur, which control much of the gold in conflict zones.

Annette Weber discussed the topic directly with Mohamed “Hemed” Hamdan Daglo when she recently visited Sudan and met with the country’s leadership and key players. Hemedt’s company is closely connected with Russia.

“In his own words, he [Hemedti] still worked very closely with Wagner a year ago on his gold mining business, but he told me he had stopped it, ”Weber says.

However, Weber does not believe that the cooperation will end.

“According to our information [Hemedtin] business with Wagner continues, and this worries us. If Wagner is advancing commercially and operating militarily in the Central African Republic, the group will not have to invest much. In practice, Wagner is self-sufficient. ”

According to Weber, Russia’s influence is expanding into the Horn of Africa from the Central African Republic and the Sahel.

“A concrete concern is that the Russians are either practicing militarily or are actively fighting in this area. This is not yet the case, but there are signs that Wagner is moving closer to the Horn of Africa and Sudan in particular. ”

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Russia have done coherent policies across Africa since the 1990s, combining arms sales, military cooperation, and soft power, such as investment. It is now a leading arms importer in Africa, where mercenary forces are expanding their presence.

The action seems fruitful in that a third of African countries abstained in a vote in the UN General Assembly in March condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Putin’s speeches have a lot of resonance in Sudan and Ethiopia, for example, Weber says.

He cites as an example the Battle of Adowa in Ethiopia, which was part of the Italian-Ethiopian War in the 1890s. Although the battle took place decades before the time of Mussolini, who became a dictator in Italy, the message of the country’s struggle against fascism is now beginning to spread in Ethiopia.

“Now Adowa’s struggle is remembered with Russian flags, and the matter is linked to Russia’s narrative of how the country is fighting Nazis in Ukraine.”

Things that really have nothing to do with each other are distorted and linked to each other. They fall into fertile ground, Weber says.

Russia’s influence in the region is not in the minds of the EU, and not just because of the war, Weber emphasizes. It is a confrontation between autocracy and democracy, in which the EU must stand up for democracies.

According to Weber, the EU should now invest a lot of political capital and commitment with other actors in order to put Sudan’s transition to democracy again.

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What about the unprecedented famine that the UN warned about even before the war in Ukraine?

World Food Program (WFP) warned February that the Horn of Africa is facing a severe famine that requires immediate relief. As many as thirteen million people in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia are at risk of famine after experiencing the worst drought in decades.

About 70 percent of the grain imported into the region comes from Ukraine and Russia. In some countries, such as Somalia, the figure is 90 percent. The World Food Program, which assists in food crises, has also sourced much of its grain from Ukraine and Russia.

The forecast is not good, because in the autumn Ukraine may not get a harvest, Weber says. Production is shrinking significantly, but the EUSR believes that this is partly an arrangement.

“Ukrainian grain must be allowed to leave the country, but at the same time it must be offset by grain imported from elsewhere, such as North America.”

“From an EU perspective, it is now important for us to be clear in our communication,” he continues. “We should say no [ruuan] the price increase is due to our sanctions [Venäjää vastaan]but that the Russian war in Ukraine has triggered a rise in prices. ”

EU Special Representative Annette Weber does not believe the Sudanese military leadership has stopped its gold-related business with the Russian wage army, Wagner.

Read more: The world’s worst famine in decades rumbles in the Horn of Africa – People eat tree leaves and babies weigh less than a pound

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