Brussels 24.02.2025 During the Foreign ministers Council the EU top diplomats discussed the escalation of the conflict in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, however no conclusions have been adopted on the matter.
“The situation is very grave, and it is on the brink of a regional conflict” said the EU High Representative Kaja Kallas during the press conference. “Territorial integrity is non-negotiable in DR Congo as well as in Ukraine. The UN Charter applies everywhere. We support the Luanda-Nairobi peace process clearly, to achieve the results by diplomatic means, but we are also taking several steps. First, the EU defence consultations with Rwanda have been suspended. There is also a political decision to implement sanctions dependent on the situation on the ground. We have urged Rwanda to withdraw its troops, and the Memorandum of Understanding regarding critical raw materials will be under review”.

Nobody in Europe wants the war to continue.
Peace can only be won through strength towards the aggressor.

Press conference following today’s Foreign Affairs Council ↓https://t.co/UbfkH3vWhN

— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) February 24, 2025

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More than 7,000 people have been killed in fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since last month, Prime Minister Judith Suminwa says, with a “significant” number of civilians among the dead.

#RDC #DRC A Genève en Suisse, Judith Suminwa a été intransigeante à l'ouverture de la 58e session du Conseil des droits de l’homme de l’ONU. Des sanctions doivent être prises contre le Rwanda pour les crimes commis dans l’est de la RDC. @PatrickMuyaya@SuminwaJudith… pic.twitter.com/UJyOFK1Vz9

— Ouragan (@OuraganCd) February 24, 2025

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Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Switzerland on Monday, February 24, Suminwa warned that “the security situation in eastern DRC has reached alarming levels”.

L'UE mérite bien d'être qualifiée d'immondice hypocrite. Elle doit absolument finir dans les poubelles de la petite histoire.

La rationalisation de cette entité malfaisante pour poursuivre l'accord scélérat avec le Rwanda, régurgitée par Dubravka Suica, commissaire européenne à… pic.twitter.com/OqDLLKYPii

— Jean-François Le Drian (@JF_LE_DRIAN) February 13, 2025

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Meanwhile the European Parliament is urging the European Commission to backtrack and suspend the critical minerals Memorandum with Rwanda in light of the military escalation in the North Kivu region. The violence in Goma perpetrated by M23 rebels supported of Rwanda troops compromises the EU integrity. However, in the Strasbourg Chamber, the EU Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Šuica, clarified her views: the purchase of metals and rare earths will continue, because its suspension could be “self-defeating”.

Earlier, May 28, 2024, Nicolas Berlanga Martinez, head of the European Union delegation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, declared that in mining matters all independent reports showed “that at least 80% of the minerals exported by Rwanda were of Congolese origin.”