Russia awards African Union a peace prize for preventing nuclear war

AU Commission chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat. (Amanuel Sileshi/AFP)

The African Union has won the first-ever Leo Tolstoy Prize for peace.Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is being sought for alleged war crimes, said the new prize supported international law.The award coincided with the AU celebrating 25 years since the Sirte Declaration.

The African Union has been awarded a new peace prize from Russia for what organisers said was its efforts to prevent a nuclear catastrophe or another world war.

The new Leo Tolstoy Prize award is named after the 19th-century Russian author and humanist, and was given to the African Union Commission (AUC) by the state-linked Tolstoy International Peace Prize Foundation.

It came with a message of support from Russian President Vladimir Putin, currently sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, who said the prize helped support international law.

“I consider your project to be an important and highly essential initiative aiming to facilitate the consolidation of the international public around the noble ideas of maintaining peace and security on the planet, upholding human rights and freedoms and forging a new, equitable multipolar international order, based on the principles of sovereign equality and respect for the legitimate interests of each other, as well as the primacy of international law,” said Putin, according to the Kremlin’s translation.

Russia is currently invading neighbouring Ukraine, where it has attacked electricity and rail infrastructure.

The award coincided with the AU celebrating 25 years since the Sirte Declaration calling for the establishment of the AU as it transitioned away from the Organisation of African Unity (OAU).

With relations between Russia and the West at a low not seen since the end of the Cold War, there has been a flurry of Russian activity around Africa. 

Moscow this week unveiled a new statue of Nelson Mandela, alongside the release of a film about his life.

READ | Moscow takes the wraps off defence-funded Nelson Mandela statue

The AU attends gatherings on both sides, such as the United States Africa Democracy Summit and the Russia Africa Summit. It has also called for a political solution to the war in Ukraine.

AUC chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat received the award and spoke of the continent’s “immense gratitude for this highly symbolic gesture”.

The award “nourishes the ardent and tenacious ambition to give substance to a collective, operational security, crowned by a lasting peace in Africa, with the deepest impact on global peace”, he said.

According to the Africa Center for Security Studies, the number of Africans forcibly displaced by conflict currently stands at some 40 million.

The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.

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