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The Democratic Republic of Congo has described the European Union's continued minerals agreement with Rwanda as showing "evident hypocrisy" while implementing much broader restrictions in response to the war in Ukraine.

Government Sharp Rebuke

Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, the DRC's top diplomat, called for the EU to impose far more severe restrictions against Rwanda, which has been charged with intensifying the unrest in Congo's eastern region.

"It represents clear double standards – I aim to be helpful here – that has us curious and concerned about understanding why the EU continues to hesitate so much to take action," she declared.

Conflict Resolution Background

The DRC and Rwanda signed a peace agreement in June, facilitated by the US and Qatar, intending to end the protracted hostilities.

However, fatal assaults on ordinary citizens have persisted and a deadline to establish a comprehensive peace agreement was missed in August.

UN Report

Last year, a international assessment team stated that up to 4,000 Rwandan troops were fighting alongside the M23 rebel group and that the Rwandan military was in "actual command of M23 operations."

Rwanda has consistently denied supporting M23 and maintains its forces act in national security.

Presidential Appeal

The DRC president, Félix Tshisekedi, recently called upon his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, to end assistance to rebel forces in the DRC during a Brussels event featuring both leaders.

"This requires you to command the M23 troops assisted by your country to halt this deterioration, which has already led to sufficient fatalities," the president declared.

EU Sanctions

The EU has imposed restrictions against 32 individuals and two groups – a armed faction and a Rwandan gold refiner dealing in contraband materials of the metal – for their involvement in fuelling the conflict.

Despite these determinations of international law breaches by the Rwandan army in the DRC, the Brussels administration has rejected demands to suspend a 2024 resource partnership with Kigali.

Economic Implications

Wagner described the partnership with Rwanda as "completely untrustworthy in a context where it has been established that Rwanda has been illegally extracting DRC minerals" extracted under severe situations of coerced employment, affecting children.

The United States and numerous nations have raised concerns about illicit commerce in mineral resources in DRC's east, obtained via coerced employment, then smuggled to Rwanda for shipment to benefit militant factions.

Humanitarian Crisis

The violence in Congo's east remains one of the world's most severe emergency situations, with exceeding 7.8 million people relocated within country in eastern DRC and 28 million facing hunger issues, including 4 million at critical stages, according to UN assessments.

Diplomatic Efforts

As the DRC's chief diplomat, Wagner approved the agreement with Rwanda at the White House in June, which also seeks to give the United States greater access to Congolese natural resources.

She maintained that the US remains involved in the resolution efforts and denied allegations that primary interest was the DRC's extensive resource deposits.

International Collaboration

The Brussels chief, Ursula von der Leyen, opened a gathering by emphasizing that the EU wanted "cooperation based on mutual benefits and respect for sovereignty."

She emphasized the Lobito corridor – multi-modal transport links – joining the mineral heartlands of the DRC and Zambia to Angola's ocean access.

Wagner admitted that the EU and DRC had a solid basis in the Lobito project, but "a great deal has been overshadowed by the situation in eastern DRC."