“We Will Not Be Bullied” – Rwanda Suspends Dev’t Cooperation With Belgium

Rwanda has suspended its development cooperation with Belgium, calling out the European country for leading an aggressive campaign, together with DR Congo, to sabotage its access to “development finance, including in multilateral institutions.”

Announcing the development on Tuesday, February 18, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, said Belgium had decided to choose a political side in the eastern DR Congo conflict at a time when the international community is being called upon to support the mediation process mandated by the African Union and the Joint EAC-SADC Summit.

“Belgium has made a political decision to choose a side in this conflict, which is its right, but politicizing development is plainly wrong. No country in the region should have its development finance jeopardized as a tool of leverage,” a statement published by the foreign affairs ministry read.

“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. Indeed, such measures have repeatedly failed to provide a solution in the past, only adding to the problems and deferring them to the future.”

Such efforts by Belgium, demonstrate that there is no longer a sound basis for development cooperation with Belgium, Rwanda said, noting that it is accordingly suspending the remainder of the 2024-2029 bilateral aid program with the European country.

It is understood that the total value of the programme was €95 million, of which €80 million remained.

“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,” the statement read.

“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,” it went on.

Last week, President Paul Kagame’s Press Secretary, Stéphanie Nyombayire called out Belgium’s “hypocrisy” in accusing Rwanda of mineral exploitation in DR Congo, despite the European country’s colonial exploitation of DR Congo and building its wealth from the conflict-ridden country.

Belgium’s accusation, Nyombayire said, should be “a reminder that fake outrage does not erase the facts of history” given that the European country has a fair share of blame in creating the conflicts in DR Congo.

“A country now leading the charge against Rwanda, with accusations of exploiting the very resources on which Belgium’s entire wealth is built. The irony is unmatched.”

“If anyone is to carry part of the blame, it is the nation that was an integral part of creating and fueling ethnic divisions, that continues to harbor and give legitimacy to Genocide perpetrators while Antwerp Diamond District continues to thrive off of DR Congo diamonds,” she added.