Rwanda has accused Belgium of repeatedly undermining Rwanda over the M23 offensive in Congo.
Belgium and Rwanda are expelling each other’s diplomats in tit-for-tat moves as part of an escalating dispute over the conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Rwanda announced on Monday that it had severed diplomatic ties with Belgium, giving Belgian diplomats 48 hours to leave the country.
Belgium’s foreign affairs minister, Maxime Prevot, described the move as “disproportionate,” adding that Brussels would declare Rwandan diplomats persona non grata.
Why Belgium and Rwanda are clashing over Congo
Since January, the Rwandan-backed M23 rebel movement has seized two of eastern Congo’s largest cities. The international community condemned this as an escalation of a long-running conflict rooted in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and the battle for Congo’s mineral resources.
Rwanda denies backing M23 but does not deny having its own troops in Congo. The United Nations estimates that Kigali has around 4,000 troops in Congo.
Belgium, the former colonial power in Congo and Rwanda, led calls for the EU to suspend the 2024 raw materials agreement with Rwanda.
“Belgium has clearly taken sides in a regional conflict and continues to systematically mobilize against Rwanda in different forums, using lies and manipulation to secure an unjustified hostile opinion of Rwanda, in an attempt to destabilize both Rwanda and the region,” Kigali said in a statement on Monday.
The Congolese government and M23 rebels said they would send delegations to peace talks in Angola on Tuesday.
