Congo, the stress of the MEPs grows to terminate the mining agreements with Rwanda | EUROtoday

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The battle on the japanese border between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda has precipitated varied convictions, and equally embarrassed, on worldwide relations with Paul Kagame: the chief of Kigali, within the saddle for over 20 years and accused of piercing the militias to the center of the battle with Kinshasa. Several western companions have brazenly criticized the hyperlinks between the Rwandan authorities and the rebels of M23, the motion of motion 23 March, the formation that invaded the Congolese borders and conquered a vital joint like Goma. Nobody went to diplomatic fracture, because of the ties woven by Kagame in his a long time of energy between Brussels and Washington and the agreements at stake on a number of slopes.

In the case of the EU, the item of the (not) contending with Kagame is a memorandum of understanding Signed in February 2024 for the collaboration on the provides of important uncooked supplies: one of the vital slippery land in infected clashes additionally by the accusations of mining smuggling of the Rwandan forces or associated to Rwanda. A decision accepted by the Eurocamera with 445 votes in favor, 4 towards and 48 abstentions requested the European Commission and I like to recommend the fast suspension of the settlement and the freezing of any fund for the good thing about Kigali. The European Commission, the manager arm of the EU, reaffirms its criticism of Kigali and the opposition to using any mineral of “dubious origin”, even when for the time being there isn’t a clear step again on the settlement.

The mou of discord with Rwanda

In his a long time of energy, Kagame has developed a community of relations on an impulse of financial, navy and migratory agreements, as within the case of the settlement with the United Kingdom for the switch of asylum seekers to Kigali. The EU signed a Mou with Rwanda in February 2024 on the “value chain of sustainable raw materials”, an settlement oriented on the discovering of the so -called important minerals within the sights of the EU: Tantalio, Stagno, Tungsten, Lithium and Rare Terre, alone To point out a few of those that fall throughout the checklist of uncooked supplies essential periodically up to date by Brussels. The Memorandum Vergato within the closing 12 months of the primary von der Leyen fee was held on the 5 pillars of “integration of raw materials” for the “diversification” of the financial system, cooperation for a “sustainable and responsible” manufacturing, the mobilization of funding For infrastructures supposed for the event of commodities, analysis and innovation for extraction and refinement of uncooked supplies and the creation of the “ability to apply relevant rules, increasing training and skills”. The then commissioner within the inside market Thierry Breton had praised the “mutually advantageous” partnership between EU and Rwanda, underlining the centrality of “transparency, traceability and investments” in relations with Kigali. The settlement had sowed perplexity on the time and returned to the center of controversy much more heated now.

The urgent of the MEP and the Commission’s response

In their decision, the MEPs ask Commission and 27 to “immediately suspend the EU’s memorandum of understanding on the sustainable value chains of the raw materials with the Rwnda”, till “when the country does not cease any interference in the RDC, including the export of minerals extracted from the areas controlled by the M23 “. The enchantment intensifies a political stress already underway from week, even when they don’t seem to be clear how – and if – the leaders of Brussels will have the ability to reply. Brussels reiterates the appeals already disclosed to this point: the help for the peace trial tried and failed with the negotiations within the Angolan capital of Luanda, the sentence of the strengthened group M23 “supported by the Rwandan armed forces” and the “violation of the fire” implicit within the offensive of the militiamen throughout the Congolese borders.

When we discuss concerning the Mou, the strategy turns into extra nuanced. There Commission “will not support concrete investments in the processing of minerals whose origin is uncertain” explains a spokesman for the group government, including that the partnership is “is still in the initial phases and no concrete steps have been taken from the signature of the Memorandum in agreement” . At the identical time, the supply reiterates that the “ Memorandum in settlement establishes a political framework to pursue higher transparency, reporting and traceability of important uncooked minerals. It is important for the steadiness of the japanese a part of the RDC ». The full termination of the Mou would require the unanimous consensus of the 27, thought-about only some days in the past. Perception can change shortly, even in comparison with the more and more clear position than a (nonetheless) valuable accomplice as Kagame.