Bangui, Central African Republic – The ruling political parties of the Central African Republic (CAR) and Russia have signed a partnership agreement to “solidify” ties, officials said, days after a visit by the African nation’s leader to Moscow.
Russia has close ties with the former French colony and has deployed hundreds of military “instructors” to the CAR to help President Faustin-Archange Touadera combat insurgents opposed to his rule.
Touadera thanked his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at a meeting in Moscow last week, praising the Russian “instructors” as “brave warriors”.
His United Hearts Movement (MCU) and Putin’s United Russia party inked the cooperation deal at a videoconferenced ceremony in the CAR capital Bangui, the Russian embassy in the country said in a statement.
Under the agreement signed Monday, the two parties plan to hold regular consultations to exchange information and share “their experiences” in “party development”, United Russia said on its website.
“It’s a political partnership agreement” between two parties, a senior MCU official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
The Central African Republic, one of the world’s poorest countries, has been plagued by civil war for over a decade.
Mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner group have supported government forces in the landlocked state since 2018, helping the army push back a rebel alliance away from the capital and other main cities, forcing the fighters back into their strongholds.
© Agence France-Presse
