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The Democratic Republic of Congo has described the European Union's persistent minerals partnership with Rwanda as demonstrating "evident hypocrisy" while enforcing much broader restrictions in response to the Ukrainian crisis.

Government Sharp Rebuke

Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, the DRC's foreign minister, urged the EU to implement much stronger sanctions against Rwanda, which has been charged with intensifying the conflict in DRC's eastern territories.

"It represents evident hypocrisy – I strive to be constructive here – that has us wondering and interested about comprehending why the EU again struggles so much to enact sanctions," she stated.

Conflict Resolution History

The DRC and Rwanda signed a peace agreement in June, mediated by the United States and Qatar, aiming to resolve the protracted dispute.

However, lethal incidents on ordinary citizens have continued and a time limit to establish a final settlement was missed in August.

Expert Assessment

Last year, a group of UN experts stated that up to 4,000 Rwandan troops were fighting alongside the M23 insurgent faction and that the Rwandan military was in "actual command of M23 operations."

Rwanda has repeatedly rejected supporting M23 and asserts its forces act in self-protection.

Diplomatic Request

The DRC president, Félix Tshisekedi, recently appealed to his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, to cease backing rebel forces in the DRC during a Brussels event attended by both leaders.

"This necessitates you to instruct the M23 troops backed by your country to halt this intensification, which has already caused sufficient deaths," Tshisekedi stated.

EU Sanctions

The EU has enacted measures targeting 32 persons and two organizations – a militant group and a Rwandan gold refiner dealing in contraband materials of the metal – for their involvement in prolonging the conflict.

Despite these findings of rights violations by the Rwandan army in the DRC, the EU executive has resisted demands to cancel a 2024 mining agreement with Kigali.

Mineral Issues

Wagner described the partnership with Rwanda as "completely untrustworthy in a context where it has been confirmed that Rwanda has been illegally extracting DRC minerals" obtained under brutal conditions of forced labour, affecting children.

The United States and numerous nations have expressed alarm about unauthorized transactions in mineral resources in Congo's eastern region, extracted via coerced employment, then trafficked to Rwanda for shipment to support militant factions.

Human Catastrophe

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

Global Involvement

As the DRC's chief diplomat, Wagner approved the deal with Rwanda at the US presidential residence in June, which also seeks to give the United States expanded opportunity to Congolese natural resources.

She stated that the US remains participating in the diplomatic negotiations and denied claims that main concern was the DRC's significant natural resources.

European Partnership

The Brussels chief, Ursula von der Leyen, inaugurated a conference by emphasizing that the EU wanted "partnerships based on mutual benefits and acknowledging autonomy."

She emphasized the Lobito corridor – transportation infrastructure transport links – linking the resource-rich areas 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 "much has been overshadowed by the situation in Congo's east."