Luanda - Angola has joined the United Nations (UN) member states that on Wednesday (12) voted in favour of the resolution on Ukraine's territorial integrity, defending the principles of the United Nations Charter.
The document, which was put to a vote during the 11th Special Emergency session of the General Assembly, received 143 votes in favour, 35 against and 5 abstentions, said a statement from the Permanent Mission of Angola to the UN in New York.
While presenting Angola´s speech, the Permanent Representative of Angola to the United Nations, Maria de Jesus Ferreira, said that Angola voted in favour of this resolution, in accordance with the well-founded principle of “sacrosanct” territorial integrity.
This is a principle enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Angola which describes the country as a unitary and indivisible State, whose territory is inviolable and inalienable.
Foundations within the framework of the AU principles
“Our position is equally in line with the United Nations Charter and the Constitutive Act of the African Union (AU) provisions”, clarified the diplomat.
She underlined the fact that the African Union´s predecessor organisation, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), laid the fundamental foundations for the same principle when the founding fathers decided in 1964 to maintain the principle of the intangibility of borders inherited from colonialism.
Maria de Jesus Ferreira stressed that since the 1960s, the Russian people have always manifested their friendship and solidarity with the Angolan people, having played a decisive role in the liberation struggle against colonialism as well as the invasion of Angolan territory by the army of the South African Apartheid regime.
Appeal on hostilities cessation
In her speech, the Angolan diplomat stressed “Now-a-days, we have a close relationship of friendship and cooperation in various fields of common interest with the Russian Federation”.
Ambassador Maria de Jesus Ferreira said that Ukraine and Angola also have good diplomacy and cooperation relations.
She said that these relations are one of the facts that justify the great concern constantly expressed by the Republic of Angola about the war that opposes the Russian Federation to Ukraine and in addition to causing countless human casualties it has generated thousands of displaced persons and refugees never seen since World War II.
The diplomat reiterated Angola´s appeal for the parties to cease hostilities and seek the peaceful resolution of the conflict through dialogue, in full respect of international law.
The ambassador explained that Angola´s appeal, is in line with the AU non-indifference principle, as well as with the efforts to promote peace and security in Africa that the President of the Republic of Angola, João Lourenço, has been making in his capacity as Champion of the African Union for Peace and Reconciliation in Africa.
Meanwhile, the resolution A/ES-11/L.5 condemns the referenda held by the Russian Federation in regions within the Ukraine's borders which are internationally recognised and the annexation of the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions.
