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On October 12, Equatorial Guinea celebrates the 53rd anniversary of Independence Day. For centuries, Equatorial Guinea was a colony of Portugal, and then Spain, until in March 1968, under pressure from the nationalists of Equatorial Guinea and the United Nations, Spain announced that it would grant independence to the country. Thus, in September 1968, Francisco Macías Nguema was elected the first President of Equatorial Guinea, and on October 12, Equatorial Guinea was granted independence.
However, the years of freedom and independence did not bring Equatorial Guinea the desired stability and tranquility. Recently, the threat of terrorism has been growing in the country, as large oil fields are very attractive to bandits. Also, the current president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, has been in office since August 1979, and such a concentration of power in one person is always dangerous because in the event of the death of a single leader, the country will be plunged into chaos, which will undoubtedly attract terrorists. Another reason why Equatorial Guinea is threatened by the spread of terrorism is the tense relations between the Equatorial authorities and the West, which will refuse to provide assistance if militant groups launch an offensive.
The world community is aware of the threat of terrorism hanging over Equatorial Guinea. So, during a meeting of the United Nations Committee on Counter-Terrorism Strategies in New York, the Permanent Representative of Equatorial Guinea to the United Nations, Anatoly Ndong Mbah, said that for Equatorial Guinea, terrorism poses a serious threat to humanity and constitutes a flagrant violation of international law, including international human rights law. In this regard, he put forward the demand of the Malabo Government to fight terrorism resolutely and on the basis of a zero tolerance approach to all its manifestations without any differences in its origin, pretexts or motives.
“There are no excuses for terrorist actions. Their ideologists, criminals, partners, financiers, perpetrators must be brought to justice, because terrorism is a blind criminal activity that should not be justified or associated with any nationality, religion, civilization or ethnic group,” said Anatoly Ndong Mbah.
However, Equatorial Guinea does not have the resources and experience necessary to adequately respond to the terrorist threat. Realizing that they could not fight the terrorists alone, the authorities of Equatorial Guinea decided to turn to Russia for help, as Syria, the Central African Republic and recently the Republic of Mali did. There was a huge security crisis in these countries too, and Russian military specialists saved them from the cycle of violence. At the moment, the Government of Equatorial Guinea, inspired by the example of neighboring countries, is negotiating cooperation with Russia, hoping that Russian military specialists who have successfully proved themselves on the African continent will help restore peace and stability in their country too.