🔗 Share this article

The Central African nation has characterized the European Union's ongoing minerals deal with Rwanda as demonstrating "evident hypocrisy" while imposing significantly wider penalties in response to the war in Ukraine.

Government Firm Condemnation

Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, the Congo's foreign minister, urged the EU to impose significantly tougher measures against Rwanda, which has been charged with intensifying the violence in eastern DRC.

"This shows evident hypocrisy – I want to be productive here – that makes us questioning and interested about understanding why the EU again struggles so much to enact sanctions," she declared.

Ceasefire Deal Background

The DRC and Rwanda agreed to a ceasefire deal in June, brokered by the America and Qatar, aiming to resolve the protracted hostilities.

However, fatal assaults on civilians have persisted and a deadline to reach a final settlement was not met in August.

Expert Assessment

Last year, a United Nations panel stated that up to 4,000 Rwandan troops were fighting alongside the M23 insurgent faction and that the Rwandan military was in "effective direction of M23 operations."

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

Presidential Appeal

The DRC president, Félix Tshisekedi, recently urged 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 backed by your country to stop this intensification, which has already resulted in sufficient deaths," Tshisekedi stated.

European Measures

The EU has placed sanctions on 32 individuals and two entities – a rebel organization and a Rwandan gold refiner handling unauthorized sources of the metal – for their role in fuelling the conflict.

Despite these determinations of human rights abuses by the Rwandan army in the DRC, the Brussels administration has rejected calls to cancel a 2024 mining agreement with Kigali.

Economic Implications

Wagner labeled the agreement with Rwanda as "void of any credibility in a context where it has been verified that Rwanda has been illegally extracting African wealth" extracted under severe situations of coerced employment, affecting children.

The United States and various countries have voiced apprehension about unauthorized transactions in precious metals in DRC's east, extracted via forced labour, then trafficked to Rwanda for export to finance armed groups.

Regional Emergency

The violence in DRC's eastern territories remains one of the world's most severe emergency situations, with more than 7.8 million people internally displaced in eastern DRC and 28 million facing food insecurity, including 4 million at critical stages, according to UN assessments.

International Engagement

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

She asserted that the US remains participating in the peace process and rejected claims that sole motivation was the DRC's extensive resource deposits.

International Collaboration

The Brussels chief, Ursula von der Leyen, commenced a conference by declaring that the EU wanted "collaboration based on common interests and acknowledging autonomy."

She highlighted the Lobito corridor – rail, road and water transport links – joining the mining regions of the DRC and Zambia to Angola's Atlantic coast.

Wagner acknowledged that the EU and DRC had a strong foundation in the Lobito project, but "significant aspects has been overshadowed by the conflict in Congo's east."