Rwanda Severs Diplomatic Ties With Belgium Over DRC Bloody Conflict
Updated: Mar 20
Rwanda on March 17, 2025, severed diplomatic ties with Belgium with immediate effect, and ordered all Belgian diplomats to leave the country within 48 hours.
In a statement that was shared on social media, the government of Rwanda linked its decision to the ongoing bloody conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in which M23 rebels backed by Rwandan troops are fighting government forces there, accusing Belgium of siding with DRC in the conflict.
In response to Rwanda's unexpected diplomatic move, Belgium is said to have reciprocated in kind almost instantly, expelling all Rwandan diplomats.
The end of diplomatic relations between Rwanda and the influential member country of European Union (EU), may be the beginning of serious economic problems for Rwanda if other member countries of EU were to follow suit in support of Belgium. That is because a large portion of Rwanda's national budget, reportedly about 40%, is financed with grants and loans mainly from the EU. If that were to happen, it would definitely be a very high price for Rwanda to pay for its illegal and egoistic military activities in DRC.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, paradoxically, EU and Rwanda have inked a critical minerals deal, despite the former been obviously aware that the latter has no significant reserves of the minerals. As such, any export by Rwanda of significant quantities of the minerals to EU, would imply that the minerals would have originated from elsewhere. With abundant evidence available now that Rwanda is looting mineral resources extracted in M23 controlled areas in DRC, the bulk of minerals exported by Rwanda under the EU and Rwanda critical minerals deal are therefore from DRC.
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