🔗 Share this article DRC Condemns EU's Rwanda Minerals Agreement as ‘Obvious Hypocrisy’ The Democratic Republic of Congo has characterized the European Union's persistent minerals partnership with Rwanda as showing "evident double standards" while enforcing significantly wider penalties in response to the war in Ukraine. Foreign Minister's Strong Criticism Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, the African nation's foreign minister, called for the EU to implement far more severe sanctions against Rwanda, which has been charged with intensifying the unrest in eastern DRC. "This shows obvious inconsistency – I want to be helpful here – that makes us questioning and concerned about understanding why the EU repeatedly finds it difficult so much to implement measures," she declared. Conflict Resolution Context The DRC and Rwanda signed a ceasefire deal in June, brokered by the US and Qatar, intending to end the long-standing dispute. However, lethal incidents on ordinary citizens have endured and a time limit to establish a comprehensive peace agreement was not met in August. International Findings Last year, a United Nations panel 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 consistently denied backing M23 and claims 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 militants in the DRC during a Brussels event including both leaders. "This necessitates you to instruct the M23 troops supported by your country to stop this intensification, which has already caused numerous fatalities," the leader emphasized. European Measures The EU has imposed restrictions against 32 people and two entities – a armed faction and a Rwandan mineral treatment facility processing illegal supplies of the metal – for their role in fuelling the conflict. Despite these conclusions of international law breaches by the Rwandan army in the DRC, the EU executive has rejected requests to terminate a 2024 mining agreement with Kigali. Mineral Issues Wagner characterized the partnership with Rwanda as "void of any credibility in a environment where it has been confirmed that Rwanda has been illegally extracting Congolese resources" extracted under harsh circumstances of forced labour, affecting children. The United States and many others have expressed alarm about illicit commerce in mineral resources in eastern Congo, mined via forced labour, then trafficked to Rwanda for shipment to finance rebel organizations. Humanitarian Crisis The unrest in DRC's eastern territories remains one of the world's most severe human catastrophes, with exceeding 7.8 million people forced from homes in affected areas and 28 million experiencing food insecurity, including 4 million at crisis conditions, according to UN reports. Diplomatic Efforts As the DRC's top representative, Wagner signed the accord with Rwanda at the American administration in June, which also seeks to give the United States enhanced entry to African wealth. She maintained that the US remains involved in the resolution efforts and denied allegations that main concern was the DRC's extensive resource deposits. European Partnership The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, opened a summit by declaring that the EU wanted "cooperation based on common interests and acknowledging autonomy." She featured the Lobito corridor – transportation infrastructure transport links – connecting the mining regions of the DRC and Zambia to Angola's western shoreline. Wagner acknowledged that the EU and DRC had a strong foundation in the Lobito project, but "much has been eclipsed by the conflict in eastern DRC."