{"id":53459,"date":"2025-03-19T10:05:34","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T10:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/rwanda-belgium-diplomatic-rift-won-t-affect-ordinary-citizens-says-nduhungirehe\/"},"modified":"2025-03-20T14:25:45","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T14:25:45","slug":"rwanda-belgium-diplomatic-rift-won-t-affect-ordinary-citizens-says-nduhungirehe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/rwanda-belgium-diplomatic-rift-won-t-affect-ordinary-citizens-says-nduhungirehe\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwanda-Belgium diplomatic rift won\u2019t affect ordinary citizens, says Nduhungirehe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Following Rwanda\u2019s announcement to suspend diplomatic relations with Belgium, concerns arose about possible repercussions for citizens, including students, residents, and businesspersons in Belgium.<\/p>\n<p>Many also questioned the impact of this move on Rwanda\u2019s Kwibuka 31 commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, especially as the Rwandan Embassy in Belgium played a key role in organizing memorial events.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with IGIHE, Nduhungirehe dismissed fears, emphasizing that ordinary citizens will not be affected by the diplomatic fallout.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Cutting ties with Belgium will have no impact on ordinary citizens. The Genocide commemoration activities will continue, organized by Rwandan communities and survivors&#8217; associations,&#8221; he stated.<\/p>\n<p>He also assured Rwandans abroad that the government will continue to provide necessary information and support whenever possible.<\/p>\n<p>On March 17, 2025, the Rwandan government formally notified Belgium of its decision to cut diplomatic relations and ordered Belgian diplomats to leave the country within 48 hours.<\/p>\n<p>The decision followed Belgium\u2019s continued disregard for Rwanda\u2019s sovereignty, both historically and in the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). <\/p>\n<p>Rwanda accused Belgium of taking sides in the conflict, spreading misinformation, and advocating for decisions that undermine Rwanda\u2019s security and interests.<\/p>\n<p>This move comes a month after Rwanda terminated a \u20ac95 million ($102 million) development cooperation agreement with Belgium for projects planned between 2024 and 2029, leaving about \u20ac80 million ($86 million) in unused funds.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-83845 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/pic_33-5-bc900_1_-410b2.jpg\" alt=\"Rwanda\u2019s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Olivier Nduhungirehe, has reassured Rwandans living in Belgium that the recent decision to cut diplomatic ties with the European nation will not affect them.\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rwanda\u2019s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Olivier Nduhungirehe, has reassured Rwandans living in Belgium that the recent decision to cut diplomatic ties with the European nation will not affect them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":2000083844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[72,75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-53459","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":2000083844,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-448.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-448.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-448.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-448.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-448.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-448.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53459","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\/135"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000083844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53459"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=53459"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=53459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}