Rwandan and Congolese ministers of foreign affairs on Tuesday, November 5, met at the two countries’ border to discuss peace and security in eastern DR Congo in the framework of a tripartite ministerial meeting chaired by Angola under the Luanda process.
ALSO READ: Rwanda, DR Congo ministers hold fifth round of talks in Angola
The Luanda process is an African Union-backed initiative that started in mid-2022 to address the Rwanda-DR Congo diplomatic tensions which resulted from the war between the Congolese army and M23 rebels.
ALSO READ: Three key steps to end the DR Congo security crisis
Overseen by Angolan Minister of Foreign Affairs Téte António, the meeting took place at Grande Barriere (the main border of Rwanda-DR Congo) and was attended by Rwanda and DR Congo foreign ministers, Olivier Nduhungirehe and Théresé Kayikwamba Wagner, respectively.
ALSO READ: Kabarebe lifts veil on DR Congo-Rwanda rift
The Congolese government accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebels, an allegation Kigali dismisses, saying the conflict is a result of DR Congo’s internal governance issues and the continued persecution of Congolese Tutsi communities.
Rwanda has continuously expressed its security concerns about the integration of FDLR, a terrorist militia linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, into the Congolese army. The UN-sanctioned terrorist group accused of spreading genocide ideology and hate speech against the Congolese Tutsi is part a coalition of the Congolese army fighting M23 rebels in eastern DR Congo. Kigali says the FDLR not only threatens Rwanda's security but also the security of the wider Great Lakes Region.
During the fifth ministerial meeting on the peace and security eastern DR Congo attended by his Congolese and Angolan counterparts, in the Angolan capital Luanda, on October 12, Nduhungirehe laid out three steps that could put an end to the security crisis in neighbouring DR Congo.
At the time, Nduhungirehe reiterated that the conflict, which has caused a diplomatic rift between Rwanda and DR Congo would be solved if the latter took "ownership of this crisis” instead of blaming Rwanda for it.
First, Nduhungirehe said the Congolese government needs to "take ownership of this crisis, stop scapegoating Rwanda in all official visits and international conferences, and find a lasting solution to the conflict.”
Second, he noted, the Congolese government should "neutralize, in good faith, the FDLR génocidaires, who not only are embedded in the Congolese army, but are also spreading genocide ideology within the FARDC coalition and in the whole region.”
ALSO READ: How Tshisekedi scuttled FDLR neutralisation plan at last minute
The third step to end the conflict in eastern DR Congo, he said, should be the disengagement of the Burundian troops and the SADC mission (SAMIDRC).