On Thursday, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, met on the sidelines of the 73rd UN General Assembly Session in New York.
“The discussion focused on the prospects for expanding bilateral relations, as well as topical issues of the regional and international agenda,” the Russian government said in a press release.
“Mr. Lavrov and Mr. Gonsalves signed an intergovernmental agreement on the terms of introducing visa-free travel for both countries’ citizens,” the terse statement further said.
Who the hell in Russia, except the mafia, wants to visit St. Vincent? Who the hell in St. Vincent, except ganja peddlers, wants to visit Russia?
SVG probably has more of these useless agreements than any other country on the face of the earth.
What sense does make? Is this all about optics-without any short-term and tangible benefits?
Is the average Vincentian desirous of visiting Russia? What are the benefits?
I’m no expert in International relations but I cannot understand this.
Hopefully someone in this forum will educate me.
First time I ever agree with anything you two … you know who you are… have written.. soon scholarships to Russia…may not be so bad after all
Scholarships exist already.
It is always good to have visa-free travel between nations, no matter which. Those against it or those that say “so what?” only need to ask themselves what has the relationship requiring visas done for us?…Nothing! The agreement, at the very least opens possibilities that never existed before. Tourism, investment cooperation in education, sports, etc…I for one am very glad of this agreement and am looking forward to visiting Russia at some time in the future. I have always wanted to go to Russia. If I wish to go there at this moment I would probably have to book a flight to some other country and pay Liat fares as well as overnight costs, in order to get a visa. This agreement has no negative, only positives.
some ppl just blind or refuse to think out the box “
I hope you are not a black man because Russia is the most racist place on earth.
I wonder why a people that are supposed to have the “most racist place on earth” honor Pushkin, a Russian poet OF BLACK HERITAGE that was a MEMBER OF THE RUSSIAN NOBILITY! During the same time SVG and the USA were still casting blacks as inferior….so much for saying “the most racist place on earth”. I have not found anything in Russian history where blacks had to sit in th back of the bus in Russia, or anything like that. When Democracy came to Russia Bonnie M, (an entirely black band), was the most loved musicians of the Russian people…racist?
Thank you for expanding.
America has never and is never giving us SHIT so why not align ourselves with countries thats willing to potentially do business in some form . ………….Ben , is there any part of this world the mafia isn’t , lets worry only about what we have control over ………Vincy Lawyer , asking for benefits is like and employee asking for pay before they do their job. …….lets all be optimistic and positive
America is never giving us shit? America is the bread and butter for thousands of Vincentians at home and abroad.
Ben as far as individually , yes but you very well know what I meant from a national economic standpoint . USA dont care about anyone that cannot boost them economically or take advantage of that countries natural resource , whether directly or indirectly .
also Ben to emphasize more …..USA have done a lot on an individual basis to help others maximize and realize their potential , including myself so I am grateful . My reasoning is once you learn or have that blueprint it can be duplicated in our own country to create jobs , leaders and entrepreneurship .
I wasn’t pessimistic. I asked for someone to expand. I asked questions as opposed to making my usual statements, which I do if I’m unsure.
I am no expert on everything.
Another step in compounding SVG’s alignment with Russia, which is also ruled by a nasty dictator.
This is a Venezuelan and ALBA thing, meant to try and undermine the USA. C Ben David is quite right no Vincentian wants to go to Russia, but there are plenty of Russians who want to use our dirty offshore banking system for money laundering purposes, they will be coming here for sure.
Gonsalves is quite simply playing follow the leader. SVG already votes in favour of Russia at the UN. Its quite simply part of the dirty game.
This action is meant to rile up the US, and you can be sure it will be well noted.
Having good relations with other countries is not a bad thing. However, Vincy people should be prudent about these things simply because not all that glitters is gold. personally, I hope that Vincentians especially those of color educate themselves about Russian culture before they visit there. I am an avid football fan and I’ve seen some football matches of Spartak Moscow, a squad there. Now, they were throwing bananas on the field at the black player Royston Drenthe and making ape-like noises. Besides that, I happen to know a Russian marine biologist and she told me that discrimination against Africans in Russia is quite bad. Even Polish people, who are Russia’s close neighbor are very hostile toward blacks and non-Europeans. Russian Skinheads have killed Nigerian students some years back. But these could be isolated incidents and I might be wrong but I lived in Europe almost all my life and I know these things do happen.
Vincentians of color. LMAO…get out of here with that sir.
You would not be LYFAO if you find yourself in Russia. My grandmother was a white Vincentian. You people just go around trolling other people just for kicks. Go look for work to do. […]ing degenerate.
I’m sure this doesn’t get us any closer to having easier travel to the US, Canada, or UK- the places that people actually want to go, the places where our families are, the places that keep our economy afloat through remittances from family members. I bet this actually makes it more difficult now. Good job us.
Ben C. David seems like one of those people who depend on western media for information on anything current…you watch wayyy too much American TV sir…if you can’t see the benefits of improved bilateral relations with Russia
This is the first time I agree with you Observer. C. Ben, like almost everyone commenting above are easily brainwashed by the US News Media. When the USA purposefully bombs hospitals and blames it on Russia is just a small example. We all know that Obama loved killing innocent people in Afghanistan. Bush loved killing Iraqis. Trump loves killing people in Yemen. We are all told: “Russia did it!” Putin took your car keys. Putin stole your socks out of the dryer. Russia is racist! C. Ben is good about information concerning Tourism but he is a dunce in other areas.
In a world where ‘Great Power’ competition is on the rise again, small vulnerable countries like St Vincent needs the protection of a Great Power protron to limit the meddling of other Great Powers in its internal affairs and thus eroding its sovereignty. By signing a visa-free arrangement with Russia, Kingstown is signaling its intention to Washington that it will continue to play ball with whosoever it chooses. Kingstown needs to show that it has the balls to continue this geopolitical policy as one of a many prong approach to convince other nation states to vote for it. This could also be a strategic intervention in Kingstown bid to win a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council. Russia is one of its five permanent members who have veto powers. If a small country like St Vincent do secure a non-permanent seat it would need the clout that members with veto powers have if it is to be able to truly represent small vulnerable states against the backdrop Globalization, Trade liberalization etc. Also Russia can use it clout to convince other eurasian states to vote in favour of Kingstown. This arrangement also quietly builds the power of the Vincentian passport. The more visa-free travel a passport has the greater its diplomatic powers are and the more attractive it becomes for foreign-direct investment among other things.
Each year, the General Assembly elects five non-permanent members (out of ten in total) for a two-year term. The ten non-permanent seats are distributed on a regional basis:
five for African and Asian countries;
one for Eastern European countries;
two for Latin American and Caribbean countries;
two for Western European and other countries.
Article 23 of the UN Charter concerns the composition of the Security Council.
Rule 142-144 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly concerns the Security Council elections.
Commentaries on the Charter, the Repertoire of Practice of the Security Council, and the Repertory of Practice of the UN Organs, may all provide additional information.
see also:http://research.un.org/en/docs/sc
SVG will eventually get a turn. It’s already in the cards. They don’t have to lobby for it. While if they really smart they would have some sort of lobby to promote our interest.
GREAT! NOW I CAN GET A BEAUTIFUL RUSSIAN BRIDE, TIRED OF THESE UGLY WOMEN..
I for one would like a transcript of this meeting and every meeting that involves SVG foreign and domestic policy. These meetings, in my humble view, should all be recorded and gazetted (in full) for the public to see within a few days of taking place. True transparency please.