Statement by First Deputy Permanent Representative Dmitry Polyanskiy at UN Security Council Meeting on Burundi
We are thankful to Special Representative of the Secretary-General Michel Kafando and Chair of the Burundi country configuration Jürg Lauber for their detailed reports.
At the outset let me say a few words about the report of the Secretary-General that was prepared for this meeting. To be frank, we were quite puzzled by apparent hastiness that showed itself while getting this report ready. The Secretariat claimed prepared to cover extra expenses, which is surprising given the uneasy financial situation at the United Nations that the Secretary-General speaks about with growing concern. We call upon the Secretariat to stick to decisions of the Security Council and avoid such profligate spending.
Now to the essence of the report. We commend that since the informal interactive dialogue on Burundi that took place in August 2019, the situation with security in this country has not undergone qualitative changes. It remains relatively calm and tends to stabilize. Refugees continue to return to Burundi voluntarily. In this regard, we welcome the intergovernmental agreement with Tanzania on repatriation of Burundians that was signed in August.
We note that Burundian authorities continue to take steps to prepare for the central political event in the country – upcoming presidential, parliamentary, and regional elections scheduled for May 2020. Electoral calendar has been endorsed, and it is generally observed, financing has been allocated from the national budget, the number of political parties to participate in the vote is growing. We welcome the meetings between leaders of political parties and regional leaders on preparation for elections convened in August and September under chairmanship of First Vice-President and Minister of Home Security of Burundi.
It is positive that representatives of opposition also took part in those meetings, including the “National Congress for Freedom”. Head of national elections commission involves in reach-out and awareness raising activities, which we also believe is very useful.
As for cases of violence that the report dwells on, we would like to stress that it would have been much more appropriate to provide relevant statistics and its dynamic rather than speak about separate cases of human rights violations. If one takes this approach, the dynamic does not look that grim.
Mr. President,
The initial cause for disputes between Burundian political forces has long been lifted: Incumbent President P. Nkurunziza, claimed on multiple occasions he would not be running for the elections. The party in power, which is the “National Council for the Defense of Democracy–Forces for the Defense of Democracy” is going to nominate its candidate in early 2020.
We welcome steps the Burundian government takes to come into dialogue with the opposition. In this regard we welcome meetings convened in Nairobi and Bujumbura with representatives of CNARED – “National Council for Implementation of Arusha Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Burundi and Restoration of the Rule of Law”, which is in emigration now.
Distinguished colleagues,
We call once again to respect sovereignty of Burundi. The Russian Federation is against any interference in internal affairs of this country, especially in light of elections.
We believe efforts of the national government of Burundi in social-economic area require particular support today. In this regard, we welcome efforts taken by the UN Peacebuilding Commission country configuration in support of the National Development Plan 2018-2027 adopted by Bujumbura. We believe further progress at this track could be sustained by resuming economic assistance to Burundi in full compliance with decisions made at the AU summits in Nouakchott in July 2018 and in Addis Ababa in February 2019. There is all the more reason for this, because African colleagues consider economic measures taken with regard to Burundi as sanctions.
In general, we are convinced: the remaining attention of the Council to Burundi is counter-productive; It is time we withdrew Burundi from the already overloaded agenda of the Security Council.
Thank you.
