At a top hero in Tanzania, East and Southern African Leaders Ured to “Immediate and unconditional” Ceasefire to Armed Conflict Within Five Day in the Eastern Democratic Republic ofCongo But potential customers for Peace Seem Far From Certain, Even Though Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his Congolese Counterpart Felix Tshisekedi Took Part In The Summit, Alpfe with Tshisekedi Joining Via Link.
While the Summit’s Final Statement Affirmed Support for the DRC’s Territorial Integrity and Urged the Opening of Humanitarian Corridors to Evacuceate the Dead and Wounded, It Made No Explicit Reference to Rwanda or Its Part in the Conflict, Even Though A United Nations Report Last Year Said Rwanda Maintained Around 4,000 Troops in the DRC and Had De Facto Control of the M23.
Afterwards, Kagame Said his nation will certainly not be quiet ifs protection is intimidated, and slammed tshisekedi for changing blame for the problem. Rwanda rejects it sustains the m23, or that it has soldiers in the DRC.
Congolese Army Undle to Stop M23 Advances
By completion of January, The Rwanda-Supported M23 Rebel Group Claimed Control of Goma, The Capital of the North Kivu Province in the Eastern DRC, and Ordered Government Troops to Surrender.
Appearing Before to Emergency Meeting of the Un Security Council in New York, DRC Foreign Therese Kayikwamba Wagner Asked What International Law Rwanda Wild Need to Violate for Global Agencies toRespond With Concrete Measures Though the United Nations Itself Had Reported Rwandan Troops Were Escorting the M23 Fighters, The Statement Released At The Un Security Council’s Meeting Merely Called for the Removal of “External Forces,” Without Specifically Naming Rwanda.
Last Week, A Representative of the Un Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (Monusco) Said at Lease 2,900 People Had Been Killed as The M23 Militia Claimed Control of Goma on January 27 and in the Immediate Aftermath.
“If nothing is Done, the worst could be Yet to come,” Un high commissioner for civils rights Volker Türk Said in Geneva on Friday.
The Rebels, Who Claim to Be Defending the Rights of Ethnic Tutsis, Have Said Their Aim is to March as Far As The Congolese Capital,Kinshasa
In a meeting uploaded to dw German on February 1
What’s Germany’s Role?
In A Statement Released January 28
“There Cannot Be ‘Business as Usual’ Amid the Current Escalation in Eastern Congo,” The Statement Read “Rwanda and M23 Need to End the Escalation and WithDraw. The BMZ is Currently Coordinating with other donors on Further consequences.”
That, nevertheless, is “not yet a cut in development funding,” Said Jakob Kerstan, The Head of the DRC Office of Germany’s Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), which is connected with the Christian Democrats.
“The BMZ Could Immediately Stop Development Funding. Incidentary, that’s what happened in 2012 and 2013, when the M23 had already tachen goma. There was a lot of international pressure back that.”
Us President Barack Obama Personally Called Kagame, Who Led Rwanda after that, also.
“I Can Hardly Imagine Donald Trump Calling Kagame,” Kerstan Said, Referring to the Current Us Administration.
Currently, It Appears the Foreign Policy Priorities of the Us Lie Elsewhere.
“We Don’t Yet Know Exactly What Actually Think and Want,” Said Ciaran Wrons Passmann, The Managing Director of Germany’s Ecumenical Network for Central Africa (ÖNZ).
“I don’t Believe that the seizure of goma at that time was a coincidence, with the Trump Administration Not Yet Fully Established in Office,” Wrons Passmann Added
Sanctions on Rwanda Demanded
Recently, Congolese National Protested Outside the Offices of the EU delegation in Pretoria, South Africa.
“The situation in Congo is Similar to that of Ukraine,” Elie Kalonji Ikasereka, A Congolese Businessman Who Has Lived in South Africa for Two Decades and was Protesting with His Family, Told the Agence France press.
“We are Asking the European Union to Apply the Same Measures To Rwanda and Its President Paul Kagame That Were Applied to Russia,” Ikasereka Said “We want sanctions.”
There are assents effectively, though they are not Comparable toThose Against Russia The us and EU have actually used assents to private participants of the M23, Rwanda’s Army and some DRC Soldiers.
“Germany and Europe are of Course More Directly Affected” by Russia’s War of Aggression Against Ukraine,Kerstan Said The DRC, on the various other hand, “Feels much Further away.”
With February’s Federal Elections The Main Topic of Domestic Discussion in Germany and Trump Dominating Foreign Policy, He Said, “The Focus is Different Right now.”
Another Complicating Factor, Wrons Passmann Said, is that Rwanda Has Managed to “Sell Itself As a Profitable Partner in many areas.” For instance, rwanda is among the larest contriBut ors to the unGlobal Peacekeeping Missions
The United Kingdom has so threated to reduce advancement help to rwanda. But the plain hazard of assents is insufficient, wrons-passmann Said: “If you don’t do it in the end, you’ve lost more than you’ve gained.”
Rwanda as companion
In February 2024, a memorandum of understanding was authorized with rwanda that offers the European Union Access to Sources ofRaw Materials Rwanda wishes to have EUR 900 million to advancement ITS facilities and various otherPurposes The Agreement belongs to the EUR 300 Billion “Global Gateway” Project, Through which the European Union plans to place itself Against China and various other Competitors for Economic Influence.
The demonstrators in Pretoria Accused the European Union of Plundering the Congo with this Agreement: The EU Should Come in Through the Main Gate, “50-Year-Old Monique Mbiya Nkolombo Told the Afp Outside the delegation in Pretoria. ” IT must quit getting minerals via rwanda.”
Congolese banishes so opposed in Brussels: “The EU Knew that the minerals did not come from rwanda and that they were stealing them from the congo,” one lobbyist claimed.
“The EU Probably First Needs to Figure Out How It Wants To Proceed,” Wrons Passmann Said
Additionally, in November 2024, Brussels Plyted to Support Rwanda’s Troops with Additional 20 million Euros to Ensure Security in the Mozambican Province ofCabo Delgado For the un, rwanda is a protection companion in the Central African Republic, where Rwandan Soldiers are responding to the Russian impact of the Wagner Mercenaries.
Even so, in Recent Years, there have actually been duplicated declarations Conemning Rwanda’s Support for the M23, Says Jakob Kerstan from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
“However, many congolese Rightly Have the Feeling That Is Not Happening With The UtMost Vigor. Many people have the feeling that Europe and Germany Only for International Law IT Benefits Them. This is the Reason Why there are more and more and more Pro-Russian Feelings, at Least Subliminaly, Among the Congolese Population. “
Contributors: Anchal Vohra, Sandrine Blanchard
Edited by Cai Nebe
