Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Louise Mushikiwabo, has said that Belgium’s halting of its military partnership with Rwanda over allegations of the country backing Congolese M23 rebels is a non-story.

In a short response to Rwanda Today, Mrs Mushikiwabo dismissed the decision by the European country to suspend military support to Rwanda as not having a significant effect of Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF).

Last week, Belgium’s Foreign Minister Didier Reynders announced that his country had decided to suspend military cooperation with Rwanda.

This was in response to a leaked United Nations Group of Experts report which accuses Rwanda of backing M23 rebels fighting the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government in the eastern part of the country.

“The story of Belgium cutting military or any other aid to Rwanda is a non-story,” Mrs Mushikiwabo told Rwanda Today.

In a press release posted on his Twitter account, Mr Reynders said that his country could not continue to support a country which is alleged to be backing rebels in the Congo.

“Belgium has suspended its military cooperation with Kigali. We cannot train soldiers who are contributing to the destabilisation of DR Congo, “said Mr Reynders, who is also a Deputy Prime Minister.

He added that Belgium’s is concerned by the UN report which accuses Rwanda of ‘arming and supporting the rebels but Rwanda has strongly denied the report which is expected to be published later this month.

Uneasy relations

Rwanda has distanced itself from the report, which also pins Uganda on supporting the rebels who mutinied from the government forces in March and launched a war against President Joseph Kabila’s administration the following month.

According to Reynders, European Union Foreign ministers are set to meet on November 19 and aid to Kigali will be part of the agenda. EU also decided to withhold a tranche of aid to Rwanda at the end of September until it assesses the situation.

Rwanda and Belgium have enjoyed bilateral cooperation since 2004. This has however been mainly in the health sector, research and training, and Rwanda believes military aid from the European country has been too minimal and will not affect the current status of RDF.

Rwanda is currently experiencing uneasy relations with its former colonial master.

This was after the European country began exhibiting a tough stance against its former colony in the wake of the accusations linking Kigali to the rebels.

Abstained from voting

The situation was worsened by Belgium abstaining from the October vote that saw Rwanda win a non-permanent rotational seat in the United Nations Security Council. Mr Reynders stated that Belgium had its reasons to abstain in the vote which was also opposed by DR Congo.

Mr Reynders has particularly been outspoken on the situation involving Rwanda and DRC, pointing out that Belgium had an obligation not to vote for a country that has been implicated in the destabilisation of its neighbour, which is also its former colony.

But despite resistance from DRC and abstinence from the vote by Belgium and South Africa, Rwanda went on to win the seat for 2013/14 with 148 votes from 193 member states of the General Assembly.
Despite cutting military cooperation, Belgium said Rwandan officers at the Belgian Royal Higher Institute for Defence training would continue their studies.

Rwanda has seen several decisions made against it with donors suspending aid citing the UN report but Kigali has challenged the Group of Experts to prove beyond reasonable doubt its connection with M23.

Rwanda Today’s efforts to contact the Military and Defence Spokesperson, Brig-Gen Joseph Nzabamwita, were futile as he was held up in a meeting.