Ivory Coast–Soviet Union relations

Côte d'Ivoire-Soviet Union relations

Ivory Coast
Soviet Union

Côte d'Ivoire–Soviet relations were the bilateral relations between Côte d'Ivoire and Soviet Union. Overall, the Ivorian-Soviet relations were sporadic and frosty as the Ivorian president Félix Houphouët-Boigny mistrusted the Soviet Union and had a negative view of the Soviet role in Africa.[1]

1967–1969

The Soviet Union had declared its recognition of the independence of Côte d'Ivoire and offered the new state diplomatic relations in a telegram issued on August 6, 1960 (one day before independence of Côte d'Ivoire was declared).[2] The Soviet Union had begun to import cocoa beans from Côte d'Ivoire in 1959, but this trade was discontinued in 1961.[3]

However, in the early phase of Ivorian independence Soviet analysts classified the Ivorian government as 'reactionary'.[4] By the mid-1960s, there was a shift in Soviet attitudes towards Côte d'Ivoire. The new Soviet ambition to seek development of contacts with Côte d'Ivoire could be seen as part of a wider strategy, directed towards enhancing contacts to regionally important moderate states in the Third World (another example in West Africa was Nigeria).[5]

Another factor that hampered the development of Ivorian-Soviet links was the fact that Soviet Union had close links with Guinea, ruled by Houphouët-Boigny's adversary Ahmed Sékou Touré. Guinea was accused of fomenting opposition inside Côte d'Ivoire, and there were suspicions that the Soviet Union had given its support to these activities. The Soviet-Guinean cooperation was however broken off.[6] A mutual agreement to establish diplomatic relations between Côte d'Ivoire and the Soviet Union was announced on January 23, 1967.[2] In November the same year the first Soviet ambassador to Côte d'Ivoire, Sergey Petrov, was appointed.[7]

On May 30, 1969, Côte d'Ivoire declared that it severed the relations with the Soviet Union, as allegations were directed that Petrov had given direct support to a 1968 protest at the National University of Côte d'Ivoire.[1][2][8]

1986–1990

The two states did not restore ties until February 1986. The reassumption of bilateral relations could be attributed to two factors. On one hand Houphouët-Boigny had begun to embraced a more active foreign policy, including a more pragmatic attitude towards the Soviet Union. Furthermore, at the time Houphouët-Boigny was active in seeking increased international recognition.[1] The Soviet Union sent Boris Minakov as its ambassador to Côte d'Ivoire. He served as ambassador until 1990.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Soviet Union and China
  2. 1 2 3 Ginsburgs, George, and Robert M. Slusser. A Calendar of Soviet Treaties, 1958–1973. Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands: Sijthoff & Noordhoff, 1981. p. 836
  3. ↑ Brzezinski, Zbigniew. Africa and the Communist World. Stanford, Calif: Published for the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace by Stanford University Press, 1963. p. 73
  4. ↑ Brzezinski, Zbigniew. Africa and the Communist World. Stanford, Calif: Published for the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace by Stanford University Press, 1963. p. 14
  5. ↑ Katz, Mark N. The USSR and Marxist Revolutions in the Third World. Woodrow Wilson Center series. [Washington, D.C.]: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 1990. p. 33
  6. ↑ Meyer, Frank S. The African Nettle: Dilemmas of an Emerging Continent. Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries Press, 1970. p. 36
  7. 1 2 http://whp057.narod.ru/rossi-m8.htm
  8. ↑ New York Times. Soviet Ties With Ivory Coast

See also

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