Belgian Foreign minister backs peace process in first meeting with DRC president
Belgium’s minister for Foreign Affairs spoke with the Congolese president for the first time on Friday evening, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
During the conversation, Maxime Prévot repeated the Belgian position on the conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo: “A strong call for respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Congo.”
Prévot also indicated that Belgium supports the peace processes that the countries in the region have initiated. “There is no military solution,” Prévot posted on X. “Strengthening national cohesion is also important.”
At the end of January, the M23 rebels and the Rwandan army took control of Goma, the most important city in eastern DRC, after the rebels had gained control of large parts of North Kivu province in the weeks and months prior.
M23 continued its advance southwards and, according to local sources, the rebels arrived in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu, on Friday. The DRC government army is reported to have put up little resistance.
At the Munich conference on Friday, president Félix Tshisekedi lashed out at his predecessor, Joseph Kabila, who is said to be pulling the strings of the uprising. He has previously called on the international community to take stronger action, accusing Rwanda of openly violating fundamental principles of the UN Charter and regional treaties.
African leaders will meet on Friday in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to discuss the crisis. The African Union is holding its annual meeting from Saturday, but sources close to Tshisekedi report that he will not attend.
Elsewhere at the Munich conference, EU Foreign ministers have called an emergency meeting on Sunday, to consider relations with the United States and the war in Ukraine after a turbulent week, according to a spokesperson for the Dutch minister.
US vice president JD Vance met Alice Weidel of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) on the sidelines of the conference, shortly after Friday’s speech in which he lashed out at the “censorship” and “mass migration” of European countries.
He also had meetings with German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier of SPD, Foreign minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens), chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz (CDU/CSU) and Wolfgang Schmidt, the head of the chancellor’s office.
During the discussions, he criticised the “firewall” preventing the far right from coming to power in Germany. The comments were seen in Berlin as further interference in the election campaign by the Trump administration, following repeated public support for the AfD from billionaire Elon Musk.
Germans go to the polls on 23 February for a snap general election. The anti-immigration AfD is polling at around 20 per cent.
Congolese president Felix Tshisekedi speaks during the Munich Security Conference, 14 February 2025 © PHOTO MICHAELA STACHE / AFP
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