EU Parliament: 'All Bark, No Bite' With Rwanda Over M23?

The EU talks tough, but when it comes to Rwanda’s role in the Congo’s blood-soaked mineral war, it rarely backs its words with action.

The EU Parliament voted 443-4 on 13 February calling on the European Commission, EU member states and international financial institutions to freeze aid to Rwanda and for the EU to suspend a strategic mineral supply deal until Rwanda cuts ties with the M23 rebel group and opens humanitarian access.

Here’s the catch: The resolution is non-binding, meaning it has no enforcement power. But it still has faced pushback in sectors of the bloc, with EU Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica arguing cancellation of the mineral supply deal would be unproductive. A quiet admission that Europe needs Rwanda as a middleman for plundering Congolese minerals.

It should come as no surprise that more than 40 per cent of Rwanda’s budget comes from foreign aid.

Signed between Rwanda and the EU in February 2024 to ensure a sustainable supply of raw materials, the deal has drawn criticism amidst the DRC accusing Rwanda of looting its resources, costing Kinshasa about $1 billion annually. Meanwhile, European companies like Israeli-owned Swiss multinational Glencore continue to profit, as initiatives like the International Tin Supply Chain Initiative, meant to ensure conflict-free minerals, indirectly aid Rwandan companies, according to NGO Global Witness.

Between 1998 and 2010, the three-decade-long Western-backed war over natural resources k*lled about 6 million Congolese. As of 2024, the conflict had internally displaced about 7 million people. M23’s recent surge in seizing territories in eastern DRC has displaced more than 700,000 Congolese since January, according to the UN.

Sources

News

https://www.arise.tv/eu-parliament-urges-suspension-of-rwanda-aid-over-m23-rebel-ties/

EU Med Commissioner opposed

https://www.msn.com/en-xl/politics/government/eu-official-warns-against-suspending-rwanda-minerals-deal-over-dr-congo-allegations/ar-AA1z2bqx

Rwanda looting DRC

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/5/2/blood-minerals-what-are-the-hidden-costs-of-the-eu-rwanda-supply-deal

https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/other/rwanda-s-mineral-trade-at-risk-as-international-ngos-push-eu-to-withdraw-agreement/ar-AA1yrGmy

Glencore in DRC

https://archive.ph/IegJT

ITSCI aiding looting

https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/natural-resource-governance/itsci-laundromat/#resource-library