KIGALI - As Rwandan and Belgian military officials continued their 3-day bilateral cooperation meeting in Kigali, the head of the Belgian team yesterday reiterated that Rwanda’s armed forces was vital in regional peace and security.

Col. Fabien Motmans, the Head of Military Cooperation in the Belgian armed forces, underlined this while addressing reporters shortly after paying a courtesy call to Defence Minister Gen. Marcel Gatsinzi.

"Our cooperation is very important because Rwanda is a key partner in security in this region and we are committed to discussing our concrete cooperation programme,” Motmans said.

He noted that the Belgians concurred with their Rwandan counterparts on matters to do with education, training and improving dialogue.

Col. Motmans stressed that both parties were still discussing the final proposals which will be tabled before their respective superiors for approval.

The two countries’ top military officers agreed to establish a joint Military Technical Commission to foster defence cooperation.

Army and Defence spokesperson, Maj. Jill Rutaremara, told The New Times that the discussions that opened Monday would also look into new areas of cooperation.

The Joint Military Commission is meeting under the framework of a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Defence which was signed in 2004.

"After the MoU, we are discussing and considering what else we can attain in the next year. Technical committees from both camps met and there will now be bilateral meetings held alternately in either country each year,” Rutaremara said. 

Ends