Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Moscow-SANA- With the participation of Syria, the Forum of Supporters for the Fight against Modern Neo-Colonialist Practices, organized by the United Russia Party, kicked today in the Russian capital, Moscow, under the slogan “For the Freedom of Nations.”
President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, said in a message addressed to the participants in the forum: “Neo-colonialism is a disgrace and a shameful legacy of an era that continued for many centuries to plunder and exploit the peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America.”
“The behavior of the West today clearly shows its aggressive tendency within the framework of neo-colonialism, specifically in its attempts to exert economic pressure on other countries to take away their sovereignty and impose Western values on them,” noting that such a policy has become one of the main destabilizing factors in international relations and an obstacle to Development of all humanity, Putin added.
Putin added that Russia has done a lot to undermine the foundations of the colonial system, support national liberation movements, and provide assistance to independent countries in ensuring security, developing the economy, and solving social and humanitarian problems, stressing his country’s readiness to unite efforts in the struggle for true freedom, justice, and the progress of all countries and peoples in order to form a multipolar, democratic world order based on the principles of international law, respect for legitimate interests, mutual trust and creative cooperation.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed that the system of exploitation represented by neo-colonial practices cannot be justified, and a constructive alternative to it is the formation of a more just and sustainable multipolar system of international relations on the basis of the UN Charter and the principle of sovereign equality between states.
The representative of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party, Mahdi Dakhlallah, said that a dangerous development has occurred in the nature of neo-colonialism which is not limited to specific peoples, but rather to all of humanity, including the peoples of the hegemonic and neo-colonial countries themselves, explaining that this concept was limited to use the same economic, political and racist methods of domination, sanctions, boycotts and all kinds of exploitation, and this concept has changed today.
Dakhlallah proposed creating a coordination center between the parties to exchange information and experiences in confronting neo-colonialism on a permanent basis.
The forum is being attended by around 400 delegates representing leading political forces from African, Asian, CIS, Middle East, Latin American, and European countries, who will discuss ways to counter interference into sovereign affairs of states, destructive neocolonial practices, as well as issues of independence in political, financial, economic, information and other spheres.
