Rémy RUGIRA
Belgium has sided with the Democratic Republic of Congo as Rwandan-backed rebels have captured swaths of the country rich in natural resources.
Rwanda and Belgium severed diplomatic ties Monday, as EU ministers agreed a list of sanctions against Rwandan military commanders and members of a Rwanda-backed rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Belgium-Rwanda relations have grown increasingly tense as Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have rapidly moved into eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, or DRC, which is rich in natural resources, capturing the key cities of Goma and Bukavu and forcing thousands to flee the region. DRC’s government said 7,000 people have been killed in the fighting.
The EU sanctions list, decided Monday by a foreign affairs ministers meeting in Brussels, targets persons holding leading positions in the Rwanda Defense Force and M23, and a refinery accused of illegally trafficking natural resources from eastern DRC.
`The sanctions decision comes ahead of peace talks between DRC and M23 rebels in Angola, due to start Tuesday.
“This is not a ‘Rwanda-bashing’ exercise as some are trying to depict it — but a listing in reaction to those violating international [humanitarian] law,” an EU diplomat said.
Still, also on Monday, Rwanda’s Foreign Affairs Ministry announced it had decided to sever diplomatic ties with Belgium and demanded that diplomats leave the country within 48 hours.
Belgium had sided with the Democratic Republic of Congo in the conflict and “continues to systematically mobilize against Rwanda in various forums, using lies and manipulation to create an unjustified hostile opinion towards Rwanda,” the ministry’s statement read, which also took aim at Belgium’s “pathetic attempts to maintain its neocolonial illusions.”
Belgium hit back with similar measures, with Belgian Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Prévot saying the country will declare Rwanda’s diplomats persona non grata and denounce government cooperation agreements. Rwanda’s move “is disproportionate and shows that when we disagree with Rwanda they prefer not to engage in dialogue,” Prévot said.
Even as EU ministers denounced the Rwanda Defense forces’ presence in DRC as a “violation of that country’s territorial integrity” and took aim at the “illegal extraction and trafficking of natural resources from eastern DRC, the EU has also been blamed for fueling the conflict.
The bloc cut a critical minerals deal with Rwanda last year, which critics said would create a smokescreen for the country to smuggle “blood minerals” out of neighboring eastern DRC.
The sanctions are a “first step,” but the bloc should take further measures, the EU diplomat said. The critical raw materials text is under review, although it’s not clear whether the Commission will take further steps to suspend it.
Rwanda had already suspended a bilateral cooperation program with Belgium in February, saying Belgium had aimed to sabotage its access to developing funding.
“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,” Prévot commented then.