Rwanda has suspended its development cooperation with Belgium, accusing its colonial master of “an aggressive campaign together with DRC” to sabotage access to its development finance.
According to a statement released by the Rwanda Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday said: “As the international community is being called upon to support the mediation process mandated by the African Union and the Joint EAC-SADC Summit to resolve the crisis in eastern DRC, Belgium has led an aggressive campaign, together with DRC, aiming to sabotage Rwanda's access to development finance, including in multilateral institutions.”
“Belgium has made a political decision to choose a side in this conflict, which is its right, but politicising development is plainly wrong. No country in the region should have its development finance jeopardized as a tool of leverage,” Kigali added.
Rwanda says the “punitive, one-sided measures” can only be construed as unwarranted external interference that undermines the African-led mediation process, and thereby risks delaying the peaceful resolution of the conflict.
“These efforts demonstrate that there is no longer a sound basis for development cooperation with Belgium. Accordingly, Rwanda is suspending the remainder of the 2024-2029 bilateral aid programme with Belgium. Rwanda will not be bullied or blackmailed into compromising national security. Our only aim is a secure border, and an irreversible end to the politics of violent ethnic extremism in our region. Rwanda needs peace and a durable solution, and no one should continue to tolerate the cycles of conflict which continually recur because of the failure of the DRC Government and the international community, decade after decade, to fulfil their commitments to dismantle the UN-sanctioned genocidal FDLR militia, and protect minority rights.”
The suspension of the bilateral aid package valued at €120 million ($125 million), signals bad blood between the two historically linked countries, mainly arising from Kigali accusing Brussels of taking sides in its spat with DRC over the war being waged by M23.
Belgium, the former colonial power of both the DRC and Rwanda, at the end of January, after the M23 took control of Goma, asked the European Union to consider imposing sanctions on Kigali for allegedly backing the rebels.
There has been pressure on the EU to suspend a partnership on raw materials with Rwanda and examine all available options in response to the escalation in eastern DRC.
Kinshasa accuses Kigali of illegally exploiting and smuggling its minerals, which it ends up selling to Western markets, an accusation Rwanda continues to deny, asserting that its security is threatened by armed groups in the region, particularly the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), created by former Hutu leaders responsible for the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
In the strongly worded statement Rwanda said: “Development partnerships must be based on mutual respect, and Rwanda has made it a point to ensure maximum accountability for all the funding we receive, a fact that no partner has questioned. Maintaining mutual respect, and fully supporting the AU/EAC/SADC mediation, is essential during these difficult moments for our region.”
In response, Maxime Prevot, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Development Cooperation of Belgium, said: “Belgium takes note of Rwanda's decision to suspend our bilateral cooperation programme. Following Rwanda's violation of the territorial integrity of the DRC, we were in the process of reviewing our cooperation with a view to taking decisive measures in response to this situation.”
“We are committed to a professional suspension process that preserves the gains of our longstanding cooperation for the benefit of the Rwandan people. We are determined to continue our efforts to raise awareness and mobilize the international community to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in the east of the DRC, based on international law” Prevot wrote on X.
The aid agreement was signed on January 30, 2024, and the funds were to be allocated across key sectors, including agriculture, urbanisation and health, as well as in public finance management.
Signs of the strain in relations between the two countries started showing when Brussels rejected the appointment of Vincent Karega as Rwanda’s ambassador to the country after four months of suspense.
Rwanda accuses Belgium of having “capitulated to pressure from DRC, as well as propaganda from nagationist groups in Europe.”
In a recent interview with Jeune Afrique, President Paul Kagame said: “I always heaabout countries like Belgium talking about Rwanda asking for punishment for Rwanda, but they are the guys that are part of the history, part of the problem,” alluding to Belgium’s brutal colonial history with DRC.
Subscribe to continue reading this premium articleSubscribe to continue reading this premium article
