MOSCOW. March 20 (Interfax) - The problem of paying compensation to African countries for the damage caused by colonizers has yet to be solved, and the issue should be actively addressed, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko.
"I think today it is necessary to raise the issue of compensation for damage in a loud voice, the issue of financial payments to all peoples of Africa who suffered during the colonial period from European oppressors, from the consequences of colonialism," Matviyenko said at the opening of a plenary session of the 2nd Russia-Africa international parliamentary conference.
The problem of compensation payments for damage caused during the colonial period has not yet been resolved, she said.
"A delegation of the Federation Council has just paid an official visit to the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria. And I can say that the issue of compensation for the victims of the French nuclear tests in the Algerian Sahara is still open and very acute for Algerian society. And there are similar problematic areas in many African countries," Matviyenko said.
In her opinion, the parliamentary community of Russia and Africa could rally around this topic "in order to bring the former metropolises to political and moral responsibility."