The Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday summoned the French ambassador to Moscow, Pierre Lévy, in protest against the statements of the French Foreign Minister, Catherine Colonna, regarding the attack in the vicinity of the Russian diplomatic headquarters in the Central African Republic (CAR).
An explosion shook the area around the Russian Embassy in Bangui last Friday, as a result of which Dimitri Siti, director of the Casa Rusa cultural center, was seriously injured after suffering a «cerebral concussion» and «loss of blood». Days later he was already transferred to Russia.
In response to the attack, the founder of the Wagner Group, Yevgeni Prigozhin, pointed directly to France as responsible for the explosion, as the parcel bomb was allegedly accompanied by a letter speaking «in the name of all French people».
Paris quickly responded to these accusations and Minister Colonna called Prigozhin’s statements «false» and took the opportunity to denounce the «propaganda» spread by the Kremlin.
«This information is false and is even a good example of Russian propaganda and the fanciful imagination that sometimes characterizes this propaganda,» denounced on Tuesday the head of French diplomacy, who also denounced the actions of the Wagner Group against the civilian population, especially in Africa.
Moscow has now issued a statement reproaching these «inappropriate and cynical» comments made by Colonna, even more so at a time when a Russian citizen had been seriously injured on Central African territory as a result of «a criminal action».
At this point, the Russian diplomacy has urged the French authorities to «refrain from a neo-colonial approach» whereby they try to influence their African partners to dictate to them with whom they should have good relations.
Moscow sees in these attempts to influence relations on the African continent, especially in the Central African Republic, directing an «anti-Russian» course against «Russian representatives and specialists» operating in the country «at the invitation of the legitimate authorities.»
The African country has been plunged into a serious crisis following the elimination of the candidacy for the 2020 presidential elections of former President François Bozizé, who returned to the country at the end of 2019 to run again for the presidency, a position he left in 2014 in the face of the uprising of the predominantly Muslim Séléka rebels.
The elimination of Bozizé’s candidacy led to the creation of the armed alliance Coalition Patriots for Change (CPC) -currently led by the former president-, which triggered an armed conflict in which the CAR Army was also supported by Russian mercenaries of the Wagner Group.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
