In a new post on the Future of Globalisation Blog, Niels Keijzer, Silke Weinlich and Sven Grimm of DIE explore the voting in the UN General Assembly on Ukraine and what African states’ voting patterns might tell us about their relations with external partners.
On 2 March 2022, the UN General Assembly voted in a special emergency session on a resolution condemning the Russian attack on Ukraine. The invasion of Ukraine was called a watershed moment by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, thereby arguing for a policy u-turn in Germany. An overall of 141 states condemned Russia’s aggression in the UN General Assembly. The voting behaviour of African states, however, was very diverse; 26 African states chose not to take an explicit stand against Russia. The authors explore why this was the case, and what could it mean for Africa’s position towards its external partners, particularly Europe.

Votes in the UN General Assembly provide a snapshot only and should not be overrated, the authors argue, yet the underlying message was not a comforting one for EU-AU relations. Keijzer, Weinlich and Grimm point out that Europe would be well advised to sincerely engage with African countries and societies beyond the recent summit and seek a continuous dialogue on global peace and security, but also climate change and other pressing challenges.

Please read the blog post here:

UN General Assembly voting on Ukraine – What does it tell us about African states’ relations with external partners?

More Information: JRF-Institute DIE.