🔗 Share this article

The DRC has described the European Union's ongoing minerals agreement with Rwanda as exhibiting "obvious hypocrisy" while implementing significantly wider sanctions in response to the Ukraine conflict.

Foreign Minister's Sharp Rebuke

Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, the African nation's foreign minister, called for the EU to enact far more severe measures against Rwanda, which has been accused of fueling the unrest in DRC's eastern territories.

"It represents obvious hypocrisy – I aim to be constructive here – that has us wondering and concerned about grasping why the EU continues to hesitate so much to implement measures," she emphasized.

Conflict Resolution History

The DRC and Rwanda ratified a conflict resolution in June, mediated by the America and Qatar, designed to resolve the decades-old conflict.

However, deadly attacks on ordinary citizens have continued and a time limit to reach a comprehensive peace agreement was passed without success in August.

International Findings

Last year, a international assessment team reported that up to 4,000 Rwandan troops were supporting the M23 militant organization and that the Rwandan military was in "effective direction of M23 operations."

Rwanda has repeatedly rejected supporting M23 and maintains its forces act in national security.

Presidential Appeal

The DRC president, Félix Tshisekedi, recently appealed to his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, to end assistance to militants in the DRC during a Brussels event featuring both leaders.

"This necessitates you to order the M23 troops supported by your country to end this escalation, which has already caused sufficient casualties," the leader emphasized.

European Measures

The EU has placed sanctions on 32 people and two organizations – a rebel organization and a Rwandan mineral treatment facility handling contraband materials of the metal – for their participation in fuelling the conflict.

Despite these determinations of international law breaches by the Rwandan army in the DRC, the EU executive has resisted demands to terminate a 2024 mining agreement with Kigali.

Mineral Issues

Wagner labeled the agreement with Rwanda as "completely untrustworthy in a situation where it has been established that Rwanda has been illegally extracting African wealth" obtained under brutal conditions of forced labour, affecting children.

The United States and many others have raised concerns about illicit commerce in gold and tantalum in eastern Congo, obtained via forced labour, then trafficked to Rwanda for shipment to finance militant factions.

Humanitarian Crisis

The violence in Congo's east remains one of the world's most severe emergency situations, with more than 7.8 million people forced from homes in the region and 28 million facing food insecurity, including 4 million at crisis conditions, according to UN assessments.

International Engagement

As the DRC's top representative, Wagner approved the agreement with Rwanda at the White House in June, which also aims to give the United States expanded opportunity to DRC minerals.

She asserted that the US remains participating in the diplomatic negotiations and denied suggestions that primary interest was the DRC's extensive resource deposits.

International Collaboration

The EU leader, Ursula von der Leyen, opened a gathering by emphasizing that the EU wanted "cooperation based on mutual benefits and respect for sovereignty."

She featured the Lobito corridor – rail, road and water transport links – joining the resource-rich areas of the DRC and Zambia to Angola's Atlantic coast.

Wagner recognized that the EU and DRC had a firm groundwork in the Lobito project, but "significant aspects has been diminished by the crisis in eastern DRC."