{"id":53436,"date":"2025-03-17T23:55:21","date_gmt":"2025-03-17T23:55:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/what-s-next-for-ongoing-projects-after-rwanda-cuts-diplomatic-ties-with-belgium\/"},"modified":"2025-03-19T14:09:25","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T14:09:25","slug":"what-s-next-for-ongoing-projects-after-rwanda-cuts-diplomatic-ties-with-belgium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/what-s-next-for-ongoing-projects-after-rwanda-cuts-diplomatic-ties-with-belgium\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s next for ongoing projects after Rwanda cuts diplomatic ties with Belgium?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite the severed ties, many are questioning the future of Belgian-led initiatives in Rwanda, including schools, businesses, and transportation services.<\/p>\n

Speaking to RBA, Alain Mukurarinda, Rwanda\u2019s Deputy Government Spokesperson, reassured the public that certain activities would continue to operate to avoid disruptions for beneficiaries.<\/p>\n

“For instance, regarding the \u00c9cole Belge de Kigali, the academic year is already in progress and will conclude in June 2025. There should be no issue for students finishing this school year. The diplomatic break applies to embassies, not students or Belgian teachers, who make up about 90% of the school\u2019s staff. Regular school employees were not expelled, so students will be able to complete the academic year.”<\/p>\n

Mukurarinda added that while Belgium previously provided financial support to the school, the existing budget is expected to sustain operations for the remainder of the academic year. A long-term solution will be explored if diplomatic ties remain severed.<\/p>\n

Regarding travel and trade, Mukurarinda noted that RwandAir flights to Belgium and Brussels Airlines flights to Rwanda may continue, though some aspects of operations could be affected.<\/p>\n

“Belgium\u2019s economic interests in Rwanda do not vanish overnight. Even with our historical ties, it is impossible to completely sever all relations,” he explained. <\/p>\n

Mukuralinda further elucidated that many businesses operate independently of diplomatic agreements, where Belgian companies and investors will likely continue their activities in Rwanda<\/p>\n

Before the diplomatic rift, Rwanda\u2019s ambassador to Belgium also represented the country at the European Union, given that the EU headquarters is in Brussels. With the shift, Rwanda has reassigned these responsibilities to its ambassador in Germany.<\/p>\n

Mukurarinda emphasized that the decision to cut ties with Belgium was not made lightly but was preceded by multiple warnings. He pointed to Belgium\u2019s one-sided stance on regional tensions between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as a key factor in the decision.<\/p>\n

“The DRC has its narrative, and Rwanda has its own. Belgium, having colonized both countries, is well aware of their histories, including how borders were drawn and ethnic identities recorded. Given this knowledge, Belgium should not take one side while dismissing Rwanda\u2019s concerns,” he stated.<\/p>\n

Rwanda views Belgium\u2019s approach as unacceptable, especially as Belgium has continued to impose economic and diplomatic pressure on Rwanda while disregarding Kigali\u2019s perspective.<\/p>\n

Tensions escalated when Belgium refused to accept Rwanda\u2019s newly appointed ambassador due to his past assignments in the DRC and South Africa, despite the fact that he had no criminal record or legal charges against him. In response, Rwanda rejected Belgium\u2019s designated ambassador.<\/p>\n

In February 2025, Rwanda officially terminated its cooperation agreements with Belgium, canceling development projects worth \u20ac95 million (approximately RWF 140 billion) that had been planned for 2024-2029. The remaining \u20ac80 million (RWF 118 billion) in project funds will no longer be implemented.<\/p>\n

Mukurarinda criticized Belgium\u2019s persistent efforts to isolate Rwanda by urging international organizations and financial institutions to impose sanctions.<\/p>\n

“While Belgium aggressively lobbies for Rwanda\u2019s isolation, pushing for development sanctions and penalties, where do they place Rwanda\u2019s concerns?” he questioned.<\/p>\n

He stressed that Rwanda had made repeated diplomatic efforts to resolve these issues with Belgium, but Brussels remained uncooperative. Consequently, Rwanda saw no reason to maintain what it viewed as a deceptive and hypocritical relationship.<\/p>\n

Mukurarinda urged Rwandans to support the government\u2019s decision, emphasizing that the move was necessary to safeguard Rwanda\u2019s sovereignty.<\/p>\n

\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Rwandan government, on Monday, March 17, 2025, severed diplomatic relations with Belgium and ordered all Belgian diplomats to leave the country\u2019s soil within 48 hours. This decision, which took immediate effect, also led Belgium to expel all Rwandan diplomats from its territory, halting diplomatic operations between the two nations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":2000083756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[72,75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-53436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured-news-home","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000083756,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/450309538_2507764102744683_8831119255766456758_n-19de3.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/450309538_2507764102744683_8831119255766456758_n-19de3.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/450309538_2507764102744683_8831119255766456758_n-19de3.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/450309538_2507764102744683_8831119255766456758_n-19de3.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/450309538_2507764102744683_8831119255766456758_n-19de3.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/450309538_2507764102744683_8831119255766456758_n-19de3.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000083756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53436"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=53436"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=53436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}