BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA
MBABANE- Bilateral relationships mean more opportunities for emaSwati.
During the Bilateral visit by Russian Federation Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov to Cabinet in Mbabane today, the minister revealed that there would be more opportunities for emaSwati to study in Russia.
Lavrov said this after signing the Visa Waiver Agreement with Eswatini’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Thuli Dladla.
“We are happy to have strengthened ties with Eswatini. We are happy that they welcomed us warmly.
“One of our main focuses will be assisting in a number of projects to boost the country. We are also planning on increasing the number of scholarships to Eswatini,” said the Russian Federation Minister.
He further extended his invitation to His Majesty King Mswati III to the second Russia-Africa Seminar which was established in 2019 and was abruptly halted by the emergence of COVID-19.
The second Africa-Russia Summit will be hosted later this year.
Worth noting is that the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini and the Russian Federation today signed a visa-free agreement for holders of Diplomatic and Service Passports. This will enhance cooperation and trade between the two countries.
The agreement signed today is indeed an impetus to galvanize cooperation even on other levels.
Currently, 50 Eswatini students are studying in Russia under the aegis of the Russian Ministry of Defence.
Relations between the two countries were established in 1999 and since then, there have been a number of scholarships awarded to emaSwati to study careers such as medicine, engineering, and other fields.
Ten scholarships have been offered to emaSwati students currently and it is expected that these should increase to 25.
The Russian Federation intends to increase bilateral relations and cooperation with Eswatini in agriculture, mining, power generation, and other fields.
