Baltic Platform
Dear participants of the international conference,
I am pleased to greet those present here and, through you, all the active fighters against imperialism. I would like to especially welcome our comrades from African countries who are hosting this conference on their continent in the jubilee year of the 100th anniversary of the fiery fighter for Africa’s liberation from colonial oppression and neo-colonial dependence, Amílcar Cabral. His name will forever remain in the history of Africa as an example of great love for his people and fearless courage in the struggle for their freedom.
The strongest impulse for the anti-colonial movement came from the outcomes of World War II, the colossal rise in the international standing of the victorious nation―the USSR―and the establishment of the world socialist system. For the African continent, the Egyptian revolution of 1952, whose achievements were solidified in 1956 with the nationalization of the Suez Canal, became an inspiring example. That same year, Sudan, Morocco, and Tunisia gained independence; in 1957, Ghana; in 1958, Guinea.
The year 1960 entered history as the “Year of Africa”: 17 colonies achieved political sovereignty―Benin, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), Cameroon, what would become the Republic of Congo and Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritania, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, Togo, the Central African Republic, and Chad. In 1961, Sierra Leone and Tanganyika ceased to be colonies; in 1962, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, and Algeria; in 1963, Kenya, and so on. The Soviet Union was at the forefront of nations staunchly advocating for the African peoples’ right to sovereign development.
Since 1963, when the Organization of African Unity (OAU) was founded, Africa’s role in the global economy and international relations has grown rapidly. Along with this came a stronger foundation for solidarity and coordination in resisting imperialist pressure and developing their economies. By then, the world already recognized the immense growth potential of the region.
Today, Africa’s 54 countries account for about 3% of global GDP and 17% of the world’s population. Half of Africa’s population is younger than 20 (compared to under 30 globally). Overall, Africa is one of the world’s fastest-growing regions: the continent’s combined nominal GDP has grown by one and a half times over the past decade, currently reaching $2.8 trillion.
The imperialist West is deeply disturbed by the grand prospects for the economic development of African nations. Former colonial powers seek to retain control over the continent’s natural and intellectual resources. To this end, they use time-tested means―bribery and regime change, color revolutions, interference in internal affairs, economic control, and unequal trade relations. French and U.S. military contingents stationed in African countries serve as overseers, ready at any moment to use armed force to replace legitimate governments with their puppets.
More than a century ago, V.I. Lenin, in his work Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism (1916), listed capital export by leading imperialist countries as the third defining feature of imperialism. In practice, this means they reap double profits from investments in the poorest countries―through cheap resources and the interest earned on those investments.
By the 1970s, however, another method of exploitation by Western developed nations of less developed “Third World” countries became apparent: reverse capital flow from the poorer to the richer nations (as noted by V. Katasonov in International Investments: The Rich Get Richer, the Poor Get Poorer). This began when OPEC countries started receiving unprecedented income from oil prices, which had quadrupled. This revenue was invested in the U.S. economy as bank deposits and direct and portfolio investments in various sectors. The capital inflow increased significantly. America, once a net exporter of capital, became a net importer. Although the U.S. had to pay interest and dividends on foreign investments, these payments were far less than the investment income generated by American capital abroad. Through such manipulations, imperialism and neo-colonialism continue to exploit other countries under modern conditions.
To maintain and strengthen their control over African nations, the collective West spreads behavioral norms that are advantageous to them, destroying traditional moral and spiritual values. For instance, a November 2023 trade partnership agreement between the EU and members of the Organization of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States included demands for the legalization of abortion, LGBT agendas, comprehensive sexual education, and other ideological standards of modern Europe. This strategy has already been successfully tested on residents of several former socialist bloc countries. For example, Latvia’s population has been steadily declining since 1991 due to a consistent excess of deaths over births.
In these same efforts, imperialists are not even shy about using drug trafficking. Drug trade became established on the African continent in the 1950s-1970s, initially with small local shipments. However, the volume of cocaine smuggled through West African ports from Latin America to Europe soon grew to 130-150 tons, driven by rising drug consumption in European countries. According to UN data, between 1999 and 2009, the volume of drugs consumed in Europe doubled, turning Africa into a transit route for the drug trade connecting Latin America and Europe.
Imperialists, primarily American, skillfully provoke internal and external conflicts on the continent, contributing to the mass migration of refugees from the “Global South” to the “Global North” (mainly Europe). In doing so, they drain one of Africa’s main resources―its people. Even the negative impact on the internal stability of host countries is ignored, as the strategic advantages for the U.S. are evidently deemed more important.
The role of some migration routes manifests in peculiar ways, as seen in the Baltic states―Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. While they are somewhat removed from the main migration flows, they still attract African migrants (at least as EU members) and are sometimes viewed by these migrants as part of the former Soviet Union and neighbors of Russia.
It is no secret that unconditional support for U.S.-led hegemonic policies has become the raison d’être of the ruling Baltic regimes. They eagerly participate in Western military missions that generate refugee flows but do everything possible to avoid taking in even a fraction of these migrants.
As an analysis of migration statistics reveals (Atlas of Migration, 2022), Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia have practically not accepted any migrants from Africa or the Middle East. In Lithuania in 2022, most asylum applications were from Belarusian citizens―400, of which 91% were approved. However, nearly all applications from citizens of Iraq (95%), Afghanistan (33%), Syria (43%), Guinea (100%), the DRC (100%), Nigeria (100%), and Cameroon (100%) were rejected. Thus, Lithuanian authorities rejected all 90 applications from African nationals in 2022.
Strategic documents on migration policy and migrant integration in the Baltic states during the 2020s reflect their reluctance to accept migrants/refugees who are not part of the titular nation and would increase the strain on the welfare system. Therefore, despite their full solidarity with the West’s neo-colonial policies, the Baltic states’ migration policies worsen the migration crisis in other EU countries.
Despite their potential as a transit region and migrant hub, the Baltic states generally refuse to accept citizens of African countries. Such are the “principles of solidarity” of the so-called “civilized West.” Bowing before their hegemon―the U.S.―they are ready to disregard each other’s interests at any moment.
In 2022-2023, the decades-long French presence in the Central African Republic (CAR), Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger came to an end. This departure was not voluntary, but forced due to a change in power in these countries. However, the French and Americans still desire to control the Sahel region―a vast land corridor in sub-Saharan Africa stretching from the Gulf of Guinea across the continent to the Gulf of Aden. As a result, they have not gone far and have relocated to Côte d’Ivoire, Chad, and Benin.
The West is trying to turn the Sahel into the epicenter of Islamist threats in Africa. Terrorists are most active in the countries united in the Sahel Alliance (Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso). Western intelligence agencies are using them to block the Sahel corridor’s access to the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, preventing it from becoming part of a strategic multimodal logistics route connecting with the “North-South” route being constructed by Russia and Iran.
It is no surprise that the governments of the CAR, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso have turned to Russia for military assistance. The Wagner Group operates in the CAR. In Niger and Burkina Faso, instructors from the Russian African Corps train local military personnel. Joint efforts by African and Russian contingents aim to prevent the West, which is manipulating the Tuaregs and other Islamist groups, from cutting off access to the ocean via the Sahel corridor.
This collaboration not only helps successfully resist terrorists but also strengthens African countries’ positions in their dialogue with Western nations. This is crucial because Western neo-colonial practices are one of the main causes of instability and economic underdevelopment in African countries. CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadéra stated this at the opening of the forum of supporters of the fight against modern neo-colonial practices, titled “For the Freedom of Nations.”
The goal of anti-imperialist forces is to expose the increasingly sophisticated neo-colonial practices of the West on the African continent and in other regions of the world. No mask of hypocritical “help in establishing democracy” can conceal the true intentions of greedy and ruthless colonizers. Their time in Africa is inevitably coming to an end. The struggle of nations and peoples for a world system free from interference will surely achieve victory.
Down with imperialism and neo-colonialism!
Independence and prosperity to the peoples of Africa!
Peace for labor, not capital!