Eduardo González
The president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, has recalled in Moscow that his country is not a State party to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to invite the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, to visit his country “without risk of being arrested”.
“Russia has always been a true friend of both Equatorial Guinea and the entire African continent, so I take this opportunity to express special thanks to the Russian people and Government for the important work they have done for countries that suffered colonization and apartheid, when certain nations dictated their own rules,” Obiang said last Thursday during a speech before the Lower House of the Russian Parliament, the Duma, according to the website of the Government of Equatorial Guinea.
“We are ready to host the Russia-Africa Summit in our modern city of the African Union, Sipopo, in Malabo, where we have all the necessary infrastructure to be able to host all the conferences we have hosted in the past,” he continued.
For this reason, he assured, the Equatorial Guinean Government would welcome the participation of Russian deputies in the event, and in particular “that of His Excellency Vladimir Putin, whose personal presence would be a great honor for our people.” “Since Equatorial Guinea is not a signatory to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, we have all the necessary conditions” for the Russian president to visit the country without risk of being arrested, he warned.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant against Putin in March 2023 for his alleged role in the systematic deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, which should translate into significant restrictions on his international travel.
Obiang traveled to Moscow to participate, alongside Putin, in the plenary session of the Russian Energy Week (REN), which ended this Saturday. In November 2023, the president of Equatorial Guinea met with the Russian leader at the Kremlin leader’s country house, outside Moscow. Russia has strengthened its presence on the African continent in recent years, and in July 2023 held the second Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg, where Putin announced the opening of embassies in several African countries, including Equatorial Guinea.
