The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, expressed the EU’s “extreme concern” at the escalation of violence underway in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in a statement published on Monday 4 March.
Armed violence involving the Rwandan-backed rebels of the ‘M23’ movement has intensified since the beginning of February, causing major population movements and a “humanitarian disaster”, according to UN agencies (see EUROPE 13360/7).
Last December, the regional armed force of the Community of East African States (EAC) left the region. However, it was mobilised as part of the de-escalation process agreed between Rwanda and the DRC in November 2022: the Luanda and Nairobi agreements.
“The EU reaffirms its steadfast support to the Luanda and Nairobi processes. There is no military solution to this crisis, only a political one: this must be reached through an inclusive dialogue between DRC and Rwanda to address the root causes of conflict, aimed at implementing the decisions taken within the regional peace initiatives and ensuring the respect of the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of all the countries in the region”, said Mr Borrell.
The EU is also calling on Rwanda to “terminate all support to and cooperation with M23” and on the DRC to “terminate all support to and cooperation with the FDLR [Forces démocratiques pour la libération du Rwanda]”.
During a debate with MEPs in Strasbourg at the end of February, the European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, also called for the resumption of the Luanda and Nairobi process, indicating her intention to meet the President of the DRC, Félix Tshisekedi, at the beginning of March (see EUROPE 13360/7). (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)