Tongan Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni has compared Ukrainians’ ordeal in the face of the Russian invasion to the kingdom’s traumatic experience in the wake of the devastating volcanic eruption and tsunami.
Hon. Sovaleni said the people of Ukraine’s dreadful situation was almost the same as what Tongans are currently trying to recover from.
He asked Tongans to pray for Ukrainians.
In Tongan he said: “Ka kou tui i he taimi tatau pe fakatauange pe mou kei lotu atu ma’a kinautolu ko ‘eni ‘i Ukraine he faingataa ko ‘eni tau ilo’i pe faingata’a ne hoko kia kitautolu ‘i he mo’ungaafi mo e sunami tau can only imagine ‘a e me’a ‘oku hoko kia kinautolu he tau ko ‘eni ‘oku hoko atu ‘i ‘Iulope”.
His comments follow condemnation of the invasion by other regional and international leaders.
Most of Kaniva News’ readers have rejected the Russian invasion.
Tonga’s reaction to Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine has been described as part of a broader political game being played in the Pacific as the United States seeks to reinforce relationships with New Zealand and Australia and counter Chinese influence.
Tonga is heavily in debt to China, which has sought closer ties with Russia.
At the Winter Olympics in Beijing Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping issued a 5000-word joint statement in which Xi backed Putin’s opposition to further expansion of Nato and Putin reiterated that Russia saw Taiwan as an integral part of China.
The US is planning to open an embassy in the Solomon Islands, but not in Tonga, where China has a strong diplomatic presence.
The European Union’s Ambassador to the Pacific, Sujiro Seam, said the EU would seek support from Pacific nations for sanctions against Russia.
Russia tried to woo Tonga in the 1970s, offering aid and trade. Western governments feared the Soviets wanted naval base in return and New Zealand countered by doubling its aid budget to the kingdom.
Tongans fought on the allied side during both world wars and served in Operations RAMSI in the Solomons and in Afghanistan.
The kingdom has defence co-operation agreements with Australia, the United States, China, India and New Zealand.
Other Pacific leaders have spoken out against the invasion.
Fiji’s Acting Prime Minister, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, called for an end to all the “hostilities and any violations of the international rule of law.”
Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Satyendra Prasad, echoed his government’s support of the UN’s call for a de-escalation of conflict.
The Federated States of Micronesia has severed diplomatic relations with Russia.
The FSM government has described the invasion as an unjustified assault on Ukraine’s people and territory.
The country’s president, David Panuelo, said it condemned any actions which threatened global peace and stability and the rules-based international order.
