ESwatini is a small state in southern Africa, almost entirely surrounded by South Africa and ruled with an iron fist by Mswati III, Africa’s only absolutist monarch.
Eswatini, or Swaziland as it was called until April 2018, otherwise attracts little international attention. But last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov paid a visit to the country of one million people, along with South Africa and Angola, which are much larger, economically stronger and politically more important African states.
Photos show Lavrov and his counterpart Thuli Dladla smiling and shaking hands. As the Moscow Times reported, the Russian foreign minister has promised “training of security forces” among other areas of cooperation. 50 people from Eswatini are already being trained at Russian universities. Asked about the political crisis in Esvatini, Lavrov said that, as a matter of principle, Russia does not interfere in politics in another country.