In a land where the mountains sleep soundly,
And the Southern Cross climbed into the sky,
The clouds have come down to the valley.
My friend, you must be careful.
For few of us have ever been
In mysterious Madagascar.
Yuri Vizbor
Do you think 51 years is a long time or a short time? It is, for example, two and a half life cycles of lemurs or three lives of predatory mammalian fossils. I chose these rare animals as an example for a reason. If my readers are familiar with the masterpiece of animated cinema “Madagascar”, they will easily remember that these animals acted in the cartoon as indigenous inhabitants of this mysterious island. Where did I get the number from? It’s simple: that’s how many years have passed since the establishment of Russian-Malagasy diplomatic relations.
The first attempts to establish contact began back in 1723 during the reign of Peter the Great. The Russian emperor, who was eager to find new markets for the country’s growing economy, learnt from Vice-Admiral Wilster that the republic of Libertalia was located near the eastern coast of Africa, where merchant ships sailing to India or returning to Europe passed. The idea of establishing relations with the pirate kingdom immediately absorbed Peter the Great.
However, the initiative failed for technical reasons: two 32-gun frigates, the Amsterdam Galey and the Decron de Livde, were defective and had to return to Revel without even reaching the Danish Straits.
Subsequent attempts were also unsuccessful. And after the death of Peter the Great, attempts to establish diplomatic relations with the distant, unexplored and alluring country of Madagascar, unfortunately, stopped. However, one of the largest islands in the world has become an object of interest of our country more than once.
Official diplomatic, trade and economic relations between Moscow and Antananarivo were established only in 1972, when, 12 years after Madagascar gained independence in the course of the national democratic revolution, the pro-imperialist regime of Philibert Tsiranana was ousted.
An optimistic view regarding the future of the relationship
This is how A. V. Andreev, Russian Ambassador to Madagascar, characterised the prospects for the development of Russian-Malagasy relations in a recent interview with the International Life magazine. Such “optimism” has a very strong foundation, backed by many bilateral agreements: agreements on military and military-technical cooperation, agreement on the use of Madagascar’s debt to the Russian Federation to finance development programmes on the territory of the Republic of Madagascar, agreements in the sphere of humanitarian cooperation (for example, since 1972, more than 5 thousand Malagasy students have received education in Russia), etc.
A new impetus in bilateral relations was the victory of the incumbent leader Andry Rajoelina in the presidential elections held last December. In a dispatch issued on the results of the elections in the Republic of Madagascar, Moscow expressed its satisfaction with the success of the elections and reaffirmed its commitment to active co-operation with the leadership of Madagascar. The statement reiterated Russia’s desire to strengthen “traditionally friendly” ties between the two countries and develop “fruitful co-operation in various areas”.
This statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry shows Moscow’s clear desire to further strengthen bilateral relations with Antananarivo. By highlighting the success of the elections, Russia is demonstrating its confidence in Madagascar’s political stability under the leadership of Andry Rajoelina, who has managed to consolidate the electorate around him and stabilise the situation in the republic.
Despite the fact that the country has experienced several shocks under his leadership: the Covid-19 pandemic, the shaken economy, the massive famine of 2021-2022 in the south of the country caused by a severe drought (Russia is still helping to cope with the consequences by providing humanitarian aid to the island), this has not led to a decline in his popular support. Contrary to the crises that have occurred, Madagascar showed stable economic growth in 2017-2022, with a decline in GDP only in 2020, the year of the pandemic.
Andry Rajoelina’s first term took place against the backdrop of major geopolitical disruptions, namely the hostilities in Ukraine. The government of Madagascar took a particular stance, deciding not to condemn Russia, which affected Madagascar’s diplomatic relations with Ukraine’s allies.
For example, during the vote on the anti-Russian resolution at the United Nations General Assembly condemning Russia’s actions in Ukraine, 17 African countries, including Madagascar, decided to abstain, disrupting the formation of the so-called anti-Russian “chorus of the West”.
The case of Madagascar’s former foreign minister, Richard Randriamandrato, was particularly telling. He was dismissed from his post after voting in favour of the UN General Assembly resolution not to recognise the referendums in the DNR, LNR, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. In contrast, the Malagasy authorities have always maintained a position of neutrality in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
“The Malagasy society, which is characterised by such traits as national pride and in which disappointment with the neo-colonial methods of the West has accumulated, continues to defend its right to an independent policy guided by national interests,” said Russian Ambassador to Madagascar A.V. Andreev, referring to Antananarivo’s foreign policy.
Moscow is paying Antananarivo in hard by supporting Madagascar in its territorial dispute with France over the restoration of its legal sovereignty over the island of Eppes. “France, which presents itself as a defender of international law and the territorial integrity of states, continues to illegally hold on to other people’s land,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stressed, commenting on the territorial dispute between the states.
Of course, Russian-Malagasy relations have room to grow. As the aforementioned Ambassador Andreyev noted, the potential of bilateral relations is “insufficiently effectively used”, especially in the trade and economic sphere. Contracts have been signed with the GAZ Group for the supply of cars for sanitation services, contracts for UC Rusal’s participation in bauxite mining, and so on. But is it a lot? Or is it not enough? Only time will tell. But one thing is certain – the “future of our relations” can be looked at with optimism.
Alexey BOLSHAKOV, international journalist, especially for “New Eastern Outlook”