{"id":54088,"date":"2025-05-05T09:29:51","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T09:29:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/the-time-has-not-yet-come-minister-nduhungirehe-on-mending-rwanda-belgium\/"},"modified":"2025-05-08T13:56:30","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T13:56:30","slug":"the-time-has-not-yet-come-minister-nduhungirehe-on-mending-rwanda-belgium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/the-time-has-not-yet-come-minister-nduhungirehe-on-mending-rwanda-belgium\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The time has not yet come\u2019 – Minister Nduhungirehe on mending Rwanda-Belgium relations"},"content":{"rendered":"

His comments follow Belgium\u2019s Foreign Minister Maxime Pr\u00e9vot\u2019s recent regional tour, which included visits to Uganda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). <\/p>\n

During his stop in Uganda, Pr\u00e9vot reportedly asked President Yoweri Museveni to mediate reconciliation between Belgium and Rwanda, according to media reports.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA) on Sunday, Nduhungirehe said Rwanda was not officially informed of this request.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw the reports in the press \u2014 we were never contacted by the Ugandan government or any other party,\u201d he clarified.<\/p>\n

He stressed that Rwanda\u2019s current focus is addressing the conflict in eastern DRC, with Belgium-related matters to be handled later. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur priority is resolving the serious conflict in eastern DRC. That\u2019s where our efforts are directed. Issues with Belgium will be addressed at a later time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

When asked if Rwanda would consider re-engaging with Belgium if approached sincerely, Nduhungirehe responded, \u201cThat time has not yet come. We are focused on pressing regional issues. When the time comes for those other matters, we will decide then.\u201d<\/p>\n

In March 2025, Rwanda cut diplomatic ties with Belgium, ordering all Belgian diplomats to leave within 24 hours. <\/p>\n

The move accompanied the suspension of over \u20ac95 million in Belgian development projects and a ban on all NGOs, faith-based organizations, and public-interest groups in Rwanda from cooperating with Belgium or its affiliates.<\/p>\n

Rwanda\u2019s actions were in response to Belgium\u2019s calls for international sanctions against Rwanda, accusing it of supporting the M23 armed group in the DRC. <\/p>\n

Rwanda has consistently denied these allegations, condemning Belgium for what it calls a \u201chistorically harmful role\u201d in the Great Lakes region since the colonial period.<\/p>\n

\"Rwanda\u2019s<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rwanda\u2019s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ambassador Olivier Nduhungirehe, has stated that no discussions are underway to restore diplomatic relations with Belgium. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":2000086709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[72,75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-54088","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":2000086709,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/nduhu-8-17a46-5db59.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/nduhu-8-17a46-5db59.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/nduhu-8-17a46-5db59.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/nduhu-8-17a46-5db59.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/nduhu-8-17a46-5db59.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/nduhu-8-17a46-5db59.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54088","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=54088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000086709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54088"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=54088"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=54088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}