During a meeting with the foreign press, Anne Beathe Tvinnereim, the Norwegian Minister for Development Aid, expressed her apprehension regarding the growing mistrust that China and Russia are fostering in developing countries, specifically in Africa, towards the West.
He referred to China’s interest in Africa and the African tour of the Russian diplomatic chief, Sergei Lavrov, which he said could not be a mere coincidence.
He called for the need for Norway and its peers to increase their international support and to let developing countries know that they are not forgotten, by, among other things, ensuring global food security and ensuring that aid to Ukraine does not overshadow other crises.
The Minister warns of the risk of reaching a situation “where developing countries feel that it is the West against the rest”.
Noting that the Scandinavian country’s government has been heavily criticized for spending 1% of its gross national income on development aid, the minister said that in addition to the massive aid to Ukraine, Norway will this year allocate an additional 5 billion kroner to poor countries suffering from the fallout of the conflict.