🔗 Share this article

The DRC has characterized the European Union's persistent minerals deal with Rwanda as demonstrating "evident contradiction" while enforcing much broader penalties in response to the Ukrainian crisis.

Diplomatic Firm Condemnation

Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, the Congo's international affairs chief, called for the EU to impose far more severe sanctions against Rwanda, which has been charged with intensifying the violence in eastern DRC.

"This shows clear inconsistency – I want to be constructive here – that leaves us curious and inquisitive about grasping why the EU repeatedly finds it difficult so much to implement measures," she stated.

Peace Agreement Context

The DRC and Rwanda agreed to a conflict resolution in June, mediated by the United States and Qatar, aiming to end the decades-old hostilities.

However, lethal incidents on non-combatants have endured and a deadline to establish a final settlement was not met in August.

UN Report

Last year, a group of UN experts reported that up to 4,000 Rwandan troops were fighting alongside the M23 rebel group and that the Rwandan military was in "de facto control of M23 operations."

Rwanda has continually refuted assisting M23 and claims its forces act in self-protection.

Diplomatic Request

The DRC president, Félix Tshisekedi, recently appealed to his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, to end assistance to rebel forces in the DRC during a international conference featuring both leaders.

"This demands you to order the M23 troops supported by your country to halt this intensification, which has already caused numerous fatalities," the leader emphasized.

European Measures

The EU has imposed restrictions against 32 people and two organizations – a militant group and a Rwandan gold refiner processing contraband materials of the metal – for their involvement in fuelling the conflict.

Despite these conclusions of rights violations by the Rwandan army in the DRC, the EU executive has declined requests to terminate a 2024 mining agreement with Kigali.

Resource Concerns

Wagner labeled the memorandum of understanding with Rwanda as "lacking all legitimacy in a context where it has been confirmed that Rwanda has been illegally extracting Congolese resources" extracted under severe situations of coerced employment, affecting children.

The United States and various countries have raised concerns about illegal trade in precious metals in DRC's east, extracted via coerced employment, then trafficked to Rwanda for export to benefit armed groups.

Human Catastrophe

The conflict in Congo's east remains one of the world's gravest humanitarian crises, with over 7.8 million people forced from homes in eastern DRC and 28 million facing nutritional challenges, including 4 million at emergency levels, according to UN reports.

International Engagement

As the DRC's principal negotiator, Wagner approved the deal with Rwanda at the White House in June, which also attempts to give the United States greater access to African wealth.

She maintained that the US remains involved in the resolution efforts and rejected allegations that primary interest was the DRC's vast mineral wealth.

International Collaboration

The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, commenced a gathering by declaring that the EU wanted "cooperation based on common interests and honoring independence."

She highlighted the Lobito corridor – multi-modal transport links – linking the resource-rich areas of the DRC and Zambia to Angola's Atlantic coast.

Wagner admitted that the EU and DRC had a solid basis in the Lobito project, but "much has been diminished by the situation in Congo's east."