🔗 Share this article Congo Denounces EU's Rwanda Mining Partnership as ‘Evident Contradiction’ The Central African nation has described the European Union's continued minerals deal with Rwanda as showing "clear hypocrisy" while imposing significantly wider penalties in response to the Ukrainian crisis. Government Firm Condemnation Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, the Congo's international affairs chief, demanded the EU to enact far more severe restrictions against Rwanda, which has been alleged to exacerbate the conflict in eastern DRC. "This shows clear inconsistency – I want to be constructive here – that leaves us wondering and interested about grasping why the EU repeatedly finds it difficult so much to implement measures," she declared. Conflict Resolution Background The DRC and Rwanda agreed to a ceasefire deal in June, mediated by the America and Qatar, intending to conclude the long-standing dispute. However, lethal incidents on ordinary citizens have persisted and a target date to establish a lasting resolution was not met in August. UN Report Last year, a international assessment team stated that up to 4,000 Rwandan troops were operating with the M23 militant organization and that the Rwandan military was in "actual command of M23 operations." Rwanda has repeatedly rejected backing M23 and maintains its forces act in self-protection. Diplomatic Request The DRC president, Félix Tshisekedi, recently appealed to his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, to cease backing armed groups in the DRC during a Brussels event featuring both leaders. "This requires you to order the M23 troops supported by your country to halt this intensification, which has already caused sufficient deaths," Tshisekedi stated. European Measures The EU has placed sanctions on 32 individuals and two entities – a armed faction and a Rwandan precious metals processor dealing in unauthorized sources of the metal – for their involvement in intensifying the conflict. Despite these determinations of international law breaches by the Rwandan army in the DRC, the European Commission has rejected requests to suspend a 2024 resource partnership with Kigali. Economic Implications Wagner described the agreement with Rwanda as "lacking all legitimacy in a situation where it has been confirmed that Rwanda has been illegally extracting African wealth" extracted under severe situations of compulsory work, affecting children. The United States and many others have raised concerns about illegal trade in gold and tantalum in Congo's eastern region, obtained via compulsory work, then trafficked to Rwanda for export to finance rebel organizations. Humanitarian Crisis The violence in DRC's eastern territories remains one of the world's worst emergency situations, with more than 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 data. International Engagement As the DRC's top representative, Wagner approved the agreement with Rwanda at the US presidential residence in June, which also seeks to give the United States enhanced entry to DRC minerals. She asserted that the US remains engaged in the resolution efforts and denied claims that main concern was the DRC's extensive resource deposits. European Partnership The EU leader, Ursula von der Leyen, commenced a conference by emphasizing that the EU wanted "partnerships based on shared objectives and respect for sovereignty." She featured the Lobito corridor – rail, road and water transport links – connecting the mineral heartlands of the DRC and Zambia to Angola's Atlantic coast. Wagner acknowledged that the EU and DRC had a strong foundation in the Lobito project, but "much has been eclipsed by the situation in Congo's east."