🔗 Share this article

The DRC has described the European Union's ongoing minerals deal with Rwanda as demonstrating "obvious contradiction" while implementing far more extensive penalties in response to the war in Ukraine.

Foreign Minister's Sharp Rebuke

Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, the African nation's foreign minister, urged the EU to impose significantly tougher restrictions against Rwanda, which has been alleged to exacerbate the violence in Congo's eastern region.

"It represents obvious double standards – I aim to be constructive here – that has us curious and concerned about comprehending why the EU again struggles so much to take action," she stated.

Peace Agreement Context

The DRC and Rwanda ratified a peace agreement in June, brokered by the US and Qatar, designed to resolve the decades-old hostilities.

However, fatal assaults on ordinary citizens have persisted and a time limit to achieve a comprehensive peace agreement was missed in August.

Expert Assessment

Last year, a group of UN experts found that up to 4,000 Rwandan troops were supporting the M23 insurgent faction and that the Rwandan military was in "de facto control of M23 operations."

Rwanda has consistently denied supporting M23 and asserts its forces act in self-protection.

Leadership Call

The DRC president, Félix Tshisekedi, recently appealed to his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, to stop supporting rebel forces in the DRC during a European gathering including both leaders.

"This requires you to order the M23 troops assisted by your country to end this intensification, which has already resulted in enough deaths," the leader emphasized.

International Restrictions

The EU has enacted measures targeting 32 persons and two groups – a armed faction and a Rwandan precious metals processor dealing in contraband materials of the metal – for their role in prolonging the conflict.

Despite these findings of rights violations by the Rwandan army in the DRC, the Brussels administration has rejected demands to suspend a 2024 mining agreement with Kigali.

Resource Concerns

Wagner labeled the agreement with Rwanda as "void of any credibility in a environment where it has been confirmed that Rwanda has been diverting Congolese resources" extracted under brutal conditions of compulsory work, affecting children.

The United States and numerous nations have voiced apprehension about illicit commerce in precious metals in Congo's eastern region, extracted via coerced employment, then trafficked to Rwanda for export to support militant factions.

Human Catastrophe

The unrest in Congo's east remains one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with exceeding 7.8 million people relocated within country in eastern DRC and 28 million experiencing hunger issues, including 4 million at crisis conditions, according to UN assessments.

International Engagement

As the DRC's chief diplomat, Wagner signed the agreement with Rwanda at the American administration in June, which also aims to give the United States greater access to DRC minerals.

She asserted that the US remains participating in the peace process and dismissed allegations that primary interest was the DRC's vast mineral wealth.

European Partnership

The Brussels chief, Ursula von der Leyen, opened a gathering by stating that the EU wanted "collaboration based on shared objectives and honoring independence."

She emphasized the Lobito corridor – transportation infrastructure transport links – connecting the mining regions of the DRC and Zambia to Angola's western shoreline.

Wagner admitted that the EU and DRC had a firm groundwork in the Lobito project, but "significant aspects has been overshadowed by the situation in the troubled region."