Russia expects France to condemn the terrorist attack against the head of the Russian House in the Central African Republic (CAR), Dmitry Syty, as stated by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova during a briefing on Thursday. She said that she "didn’t see" Paris offering condemnation of "such an atrocity against the Russian representative."
“We believe that the French authorities, who have been lately intensively inflating the anti-Russian campaign in Africa and seeking to discredit Russia’s friendly assistance to their African partners in every possible way without justification, need to think more often about the consequences of their sometimes irresponsible activities, words and actions," she noted, adding: "We hope and await that Paris will express words of sympathy, regret and condemnation in connection with the terrorist attack, since the topic of Russia in Africa has been of such interest to them lately."
The diplomat also stressed that Moscow expects CAR authorities to lead a thorough investigation into the terrorist attack, and expressed hope that "its authors will be punished, wherever they are." According to Zakharova, Russia believes that "the Central African authorities have the right to seek assistance in the investigation of this terrorist attack – from the relevant services of other states that can help clarify the situation."
"I would like to note that if the negative, sometimes hysterical, toxic informational atmosphere around Russian representatives and specialists who carry out their activities in the country solely at the invitation of official authorities of the Central African Republic, had not been created in the country, often through the efforts of Western countries, and primarily France – then such incidents might have been avoided. But this is for the future. In this case, we proceed from the need to wait for the results of the investigation," the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman concluded.
On December 16, the Russian Embassy reported that Dmitry Syty had been injured in the explosion of an anonymous parcel. He was hospitalized in serious condition. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the incident a terrorist attack. An investigation by CAR police is underway. On December 19, a plane carrying the injured official took off from Bangui Airport for Russia.
Maxime Balalou, acting spokesman for the CAR government, said that the Cabinet of Ministers has confirmed its unwavering commitment to cooperation with the Russian Federation, condemning the terrorist attack that injured Syty. The Central African official stressed that the crime was also committed against "the Russian presence in the Central African Republic."