Brussels 19.03.2025 Rwanda’s reaction to the EU sanctions is swift and arrogant. The leadership severed diplomatic ties with Belgium, its former colonial ruler, and gave Belgian diplomats just 48 hours to leave. This week the EU Council imposed restrictive measures on nine individuals and one entity responsible for acts that constitute serious human rights violations…
Category: EU-Africa
DRC-North Kivu: EU lukewarm response
Brussels 28.02.2025 The European diplomacy is still undecisive towards the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Rwanda, in spite of the dramatic degradation of the security situation in North Kivu, DRC. In a resolution adopted by the European parliament Plenary earlier this month MEPs demand to undertake urgent measures by the EU, including targeted sanctions, the…
EU-Rwanda: reluctant to freeze MoU
Brussels 25.02.2025 The European Commission stays reluctant to freeze the Memorandum of Understanding on Sustainable Raw Materials Value Chains (MoU). The slow motion reaction of the EU raises brows of human rights defenders in Europe, and worldwide, while observing the devastating events in North Kivu, DRC, where already seven thousand people were killed as a…
EU: Rwanda Memorandum under review
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…
G20 in SA: fragmented and uncertain
Brussels 21.02.2025 Foreign ministers from the G20 leading economies have gathered in South Africa’s Johannesburg, amid geopolitical calamities, tensions over the Ukraine war, and political uncertainty in Europe ahead of German, and Romanian elections. (Image above: Johannesburg, SA) The G20, a grouping of 19 countries as well as the European Union (EU) and the African…
DRC: EU Commission assesses relevant measures
Brussels 17.02.2025 Following the European Parliament Resolution, demanding the European Commission to take immediate action to restore peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the EU diplomacy is assessing the possible way forward. However the definite decision will be announced not earlier than on February 24th, when the top EU diplomats would convene in…
MEPs demand to freeze support to Rwanda
Strasbourg 16.02.2025 Rwandan-backed M23 fighters have entered Bukavu, the second-largest city in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, taking under control the regional governor’s office. The March 23 Movement (M23) armed group announced on Saturday that its fighters had entered Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu Province in the eastern Democratic Republic…
DRC: MEPs «toil» resolution on Goma
Strasbourg 11.02.2025 The European Parliament is in the process of working out a Resolution on the situation in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Following the line of the drafts, the MEPs conclude the following:During the decades the resource-rich and multi-ethnic eastern region of the DRC has been plagued by violence, war and unimaginable…
EU appoints envoy to Sahel
Brussels 18.11.2024 Today the Council appointed João Cravinho as EU Special Representative (EUSR) for the Sahel region. (Image above: Ninno Jack Jr.) The new EUSR will actively contribute to regional and international efforts to achieve lasting peace, security, stability and sustainable development in the region, which comprises Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. The…
Botswana: “exemplary transition of power”
Brussels 01.11.2024 On 30 October, the citizens of Botswana voted in parliamentary and local council elections. (Image above: Botswana sunset) “The EU congratulates President Duma Gideon Boko on his election, and the people of Botswana on the peaceful exercise of their civic rights” reads the statement by the EU top diplomat Josep Borrell on elections…
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