A Brief Interview with Russia’s Federation Council speaker Matvienko

Addis Ababa, February 18, 2025 (ENA)—Valentina Matvienko, the Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, is on an official visit to Ethiopia from February 18 to 20, 2025. In an exclusive interview with the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA,) Matvienko shared her view on the historical and contemporary relations between Russia and Ethiopia as well as the significance of the visit to Ethiopia.   

Below is the full interview conducted with Matvienko

ENA : Good afternoon, Ms. Valentina Ivanovna Matvienko. First of all, I would like to know what importance of Russian-Ethiopian inter-parliamentary cooperation will be in terms of strengthening the political institutions of the two countries?

Good afternoon! I am glad to answer your questions. For some reason you are asking a question in the future tense - “what importance will be?” But in reality close Russian-Ethiopian inter-parliamentary cooperation has already played and is playing an important role in strengthening and developing political dialogue at various levels.

Our parliamentary ties are a powerful resource that consolidates the leaders’ agreements and creates a legislative framework for their implementation, which is, of course, facilitated by regular contacts between parliamentarians. A truly significant event was the signing in 2023 of the Memorandum on cooperation between the upper houses of our parliaments. By the way, they are called alike – the House of Federation. Parliamentary friendship groups also make a great contribution to strengthening bilateral cooperation.

We are actively working on the platform of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and last year the Ethiopian delegation took part in the events of the 10th anniversary  BRICS Parliamentary Forum in St. Petersburg. The main topic of the discussion was the role of parliaments in strengthening multilateralism for a fair and global development and security. I remember that I was deeply impressed by the brilliant statement of the Chairperson of the House of Federation of Ethiopia H.E. Agegnehu Teshager. Then it became obvious to me that the Ethiopian-Russian inter-parliamentary dialogue is a discussion between like-minded people striving for a more perfect world order.

I am sure that we need to move forward, exchange experience in the field of legislative activity, and speed up developing of a joint actions’ plan for the near future. We are also planning to enhance interregional cooperation, which, from our point of view, has a significant potential.

ENA - Indeed, the Russian-Ethiopian dialogue has acquired a large-scale character recently. How would you assess the current level of relations between Russia and Ethiopia?

Relations between our two countries are now at a very high level. Ethiopia is one of the Russia’s most important and key partners in Africa, the first state on the African continent with which we have established official diplomatic contacts. This year we mark the 127th anniversary of the establishment of our diplomatic relations. Over these years, a rich history of cooperation based on respect, trust and equal partnership has been created. At the same time, the ties between our peoples, as I believe you know, have a much longer history of friendship.

Ethiopian land is the birthplace of Abram Petrovich Gannibal, the great-great-grandfather of the great Russian poet Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin. The genius of Pushkin is our common heritage, which we greatly value and are proud of. And, taking this opportunity, I would like to thank the Ethiopians for attention they pay to preserving the memory of the poet, who has become one of the symbols of the unity of our countries. You should know that we in Russia see and appreciate this.

The uniqueness of Ethiopia is that it is the only African country that has never been colonized. At the same time, it had to defend its independence more than once. And I am pleased to note that at the end of the 19th century it was the Russian Cossacks who supported Ethiopia in the fight against Italian invaders.

In the 20th century, our peoples faced with a difficult test. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory over fascism, which is the most important milestone in the history of mankind, an event that determined the fate of peoples for many generations to come. Our countries have made an invaluable contribution to the common fight against this evil.

Currently, high-level meetings certainly give a powerful impetus to bilateral relations. Over the past two years, Prime Minister of Ethiopia Dr. Abiy Ahmed has visited the Russian Federation twice: in July 2023, on an official visit conjuncted with the Second Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg, and in October 2024, he took an active part in the BRICS Summit in Kazan. During both visits, Dr. Abiy Ahmed had detailed negotiations with the President of the Russian Federation  H.E. Vladimir Putin. I say it is a good manifestation of the existing close approaches of our states in international affairs.

Russia and Ethiopia have always fought together against colonialism and defended the freedom of African peoples. And today both countries actively advocate for the creation of a fair, polycentric world order. We are united by a common understanding that a system of international relations that ignores the interests of entire countries and regions must become a thing of the past. The new world order must be based on the principles of equality, mutual respect, justice, and the freedom of each state to independently choose its own path of development, its own destiny without external interference. Moscow and Addis Ababa actively oppose any illegal restrictions, sanctions, or bans.

Russia is grateful to our Ethiopian friends for their desire to take into account our country’s opinion on sensitive issues on the international agenda. In this regard, I would like to express gratitude to our Ethiopian partners for supporting Russian initiatives at the UN aimed at combating the glorification of Nazism, preventing the militarization of space, ensuring international information security, etc. We especially highly appreciate Addis Ababa’s balanced approach to the situation in Ukraine.

We certainly welcome the successful full-fledged entry of Ethiopia into BRICS during the Russian chairmanship in the association in 2024. I am sure that your country’s participation in a fundamentally new format of global governance will continue to contribute to the establishment of strong and long-term political cooperation with other BRICS states, benefit the economic growth of Ethiopia, and facilitate trade both within the association and in a bilateral format with the member states.

Over the years, ties between our states have only become stronger, and I see our main task as supporting this trend in all areas. With this in mind, we are visiting Addis Ababa with a very representative delegation. I am sure our visit will be fruitful.

​​​​​What measures are being taken to further strengthen relations between Russia and Ethiopia in the areas of trade and investment to fully use their potential?

The progressive development of political relations between states must, of course, be based on a strong economic basis. I know that Ethiopians remember and appreciate the enormous contribution of our country – then the USSR – to the joint realization of major infrastructure projects, the construction of industrial enterprises, and energy facilities. Soviet geologists discovered deposits of various minerals. We helped you in scientific crop production and the creation of livestock farms. Military and technical cooperation was also actively developing. More than 20 thousand Ethiopian citizens were educated in the Soviet Union, 5 thousand specialists received professional training. Moscow also helped to overcome the consequences of a protracted drought and famine in the mid-1980s. This positive experience allows us today to successfully develop ties, despite to any external pressure.

Currently, Russian companies are working on a number of promising projects in Ethiopia in various fields, including automotive, chemical, electrical, food industries, transport, information and telecommunications technologies, and of course, agriculture, and energy.

Good prospects for cooperation are opening up in the field of use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. For many years, successful cooperation has continued between the Russian Red Cross and the Ministry of Health of Ethiopia. These are the real areas where we provide mutually beneficial partnerships. I'm convinced that it will only gain momentum.

In this regard, I would like to mention the Intergovernmental Russian-Ethiopian Commission on Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation and Trade, which is the driving mechanism for the entire complex of trade, economic and investment interaction. We plan to hold its next meeting this year in St. Petersburg.

The preparation for this serious event explains, among other things, the representative character of the current Russian delegation, which includes federal ministers, deputy ministers, as well as heads of large Russian state corporations. They will have separate meetings with their Ethiopian colleagues to discuss specific steps for realizing new projects.

I would like to note that our trade and economic cooperation seamlessly supplements cooperation in the cultural and humanitarian field. Every year we provide 100 scholarships for Ethiopian students to study at Russian universities. Let me remind you that the traditional Days of Russia in Ethiopia were successfully held in Addis Ababa in September, 2024, which became a resonant event in the cultural life of the Ethiopian capital. At the same time, I am sure that much remains to be done to ensure that the entire gigantic potential of Russian-Ethiopian friendship will be realized for the benefit of our peoples.

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