It's A Shame. South Africa's Opposition Criticized Government's Decision To Hold Joint Military Exercises With Russia

The largest opposition party in the parliament of the Republic of South Africa (RSA) criticized the country's authorities for the intention to hold joint military exercises with Russia and China in mid-February.

Bloomberg writes about this with reference to the statement of the member of the Democratic Alliance Kobus Mare.

The operation called Smoke (Ex Mosi) will take place from February 17 to 26 off the coast of the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal in the Indian Ocean. Ships from the RSA, Russia and China will take part in the exercises.

"This creates the impression that we are not neutral, but biased towards one of the parties. It is obvious that this can alienate us from other important trade partners - the West. This is in the interests of Russia," Mare said.

He called joint exercises with Russia a "bad decision" and a "shame" for the country.

Bloomberg notes that the reluctance of the RSA’s government to condemn Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has increased tensions in the country's relations with the United States, United Kingdom and the European Union.

The countries listed above are reported to be RSA's leading trading partners, while Russia is not among the top 15.

According to Asia Times, joint naval exercises may be an attempt by Russia and China to present themselves as an alternative to Western security mechanisms.

And for the RSA, this is an attempt to position itself as a regional leader on the African continent, and exercises with Russia and China is an attempt to legitimize this status.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, today, January 16, joint exercises of Russian and Belarusian aviation began on the territory of Belarus.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that under the guise of exercises, Russia strengthened its aviation group in Belarus with an additional number of aircraft.

We also reported that in late October 2022 in Russia, under the leadership of dictator Vladimir Putin, nuclear forces underwent training.

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