Russia can count on some allies or neutral states in the Ukraine war on the African continent.

In a vote at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, Eritrea voted against a resolution strongly condemning the Russian attack and calling for Russia's withdrawal, with 17 African countries abstaining.

Previously, European and American diplomats had tried hard to win over African governments to their side.

Claudia Bröll

Freelance Africa correspondent based in Cape Town.

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Christian Meier

Political correspondent for the Middle East and Northeast Africa.

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Historical ties to the former Soviet Union may account for the position of some African countries.

From 1960 to the end of the Cold War, the Soviet Union had supported the liberation movements in Algeria, Angola, Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea, Morocco, South Africa and other countries financially, with training and arms.

However, pragmatic considerations also play a role.

For a long time after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia was hardly present on the continent, but since 2014 it has been gradually expanding both its economic and military engagement.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, in 2020 almost half of arms imports to Africa came from Russia.

In addition, various African governments see Russia and China, which also abstained, as important allies in the United Nations Security Council.

Eritrea is of strategic interest to Moscow

However, with the abstentions and rejection of the resolution in the case of Eritrea, the African states are putting a lot at risk.

Alongside China, the European Union is a far more important economic partner than Russia.

At the summit of the EU and the African Union (AU), for example, the EU promised to allocate half of the EUR 300 billion Global Gateway Initiative for infrastructure expansion in Africa.

In West Africa, Europeans are involved in various missions in the fight against Islamist terrorists and other armed groups.

It is highly questionable whether Russian soldiers and mercenaries will fill the gaps already left by France's troop withdrawal from Mali.

In Eritrea, the ruler Isaias Afewerki has long sought close cooperation with Russia - and now also with China.

The East African country he has governed since 1993 is one of the most repressive and isolated countries in the world.

Eritrea is strategically interesting for Moscow.

The country is located at the southern end of the Red Sea, where an increasing number of major and regional powers have shown a presence in recent years.

In 2018, both countries announced that Russia wanted to build a logistics center in an Eritrean port.

Shortly before, the international isolation of the regime in Asmara had ended with the Eritrean-Ethiopian peace agreement.

After the sanctions against the country, which included an arms embargo, were lifted shortly afterwards, military cooperation with Russia intensified from 2019 onwards.

Fueling military conflicts with or in neighboring countries is one of Isaias' favorite foreign policy instruments.

In this respect, too, his country's No is not surprising.