Luanda: Angola is taking part today and Tuesday in Belgrade, Serbia, in a meeting marking the 65th anniversary of the First Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), with a delegation led by Minister of Foreign Affairs T©te Ant³nio. The minister left Luanda on Monday for the Serbian capital, where he will represent President Joo Louren§o at the meeting, which brings together representatives of several states, including Heads of State and Government.
According to Angola Press News Agency, the meeting, which runs until Tuesday, aims to mark the historical importance of the Movement and reflect on the current challenges facing the international community. The gathering also provides an opportunity to reaffirm the fundamental principles on which the NAM was founded, notably the defence of peace, sovereignty and the territorial integrity of states, respect for international law, the strengthening of multilateralism, and the promotion of cooperation and solidarity among developing countries.
Holding the meeting in Belgrade carries particular historical significance, as the city hosted the First Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement in September 1961, at which leaders from countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America laid the foundations of the organisation. Angola's participation reaffirms the country's commitment to the principles of the NAM and to promoting peace, international cooperation and multilateral solutions to the political, economic and social challenges affecting the international community.
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) emerged in the context of the Cold War, when the world was divided between the capitalist bloc, led by the United States, and the socialist bloc, led by the Soviet Union. The Movement sought to bring together countries that did not wish to submit to the interests of either of the two major powers.
One of the main forerunners of the NAM was the Bandung Conference, held in Indonesia in 1955, with the participation of 29 countries from Asia and Africa. The conference emphasised the defence of sovereignty, self-determination and cooperation, as well as the end of colonialism.
The NAM was officially established in 1961 at the Belgrade Conference, in what was then Yugoslavia. Its main founding leaders included Josip Tito of Yugoslavia, Jawaharlal Nehru of India, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Sukarno of Indonesia, and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana.
