Finland's Plan to Cut Help for Africa 'Instrument of Political Pressure': Russian Foreign Ministry

"This decision cannot be characterized other than as the shameless use by the West of assistance programs for developing countries as an instrument of political pressure on states seeking to pursue an independent policy. This is further confirmation that Finland, against the background of joining NATO, has turned into a thoughtless repeater of the policy of its new North Atlantic masters, having completely lost its independence," the diplomat stated.

"All of this also illustrates the cynicism of Western politicians, whose hypocritical statements about caring for people in developing countries turn out to be a desire to throw a colonialist noose, to deprive them of the right to pursue an independent sovereign policy. We are confident that our partners will not succumb to such blackmail," she stated.

"It is very regrettable that Finland follows the bad example of its older European brothers from the century before last, when they, under the propaganda sauce of the 'civilizational mission,' were simply engaged in the division of the natural resources of the African continent, and the people inhabiting it were turned into slaves," Babakov stated.