Germany said on Tuesday it had halted new development aid to Rwanda and was reviewing its existing commitments in response to the African nation's role in the conflict in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The German development ministry said Berlin had informed Rwanda in advance of the move and urged it to withdraw support for the M23 rebel group, which has made advances in eastern DRC.
DRC, UN experts and Western powers accuse Rwanda of backing the group. Rwanda denies this and says it is defending itself against ethnic Hutu-led militias bent on slaughtering Tutsis in DRC and threatening Rwanda.
Rwanda's foreign ministry called Germany's action "wrong and counterproductive".
"Countries like Germany that bear a historical responsibility for the recurring instability in this region should know better than to apply one-sided, coercive measures," Rwanda's foreign ministry said in a statement late on Tuesday.
The German ministry said Berlin last pledged aid of €93.6m (R1.84bn) to Rwanda in October 2022 for the period 2022 to 2024.
The M23 group has captured swathes of eastern DRC and valuable mineral deposits since January.
The ongoing onslaught is the gravest escalation of a long-running conflict rooted in the spillover into DRC of Rwanda's 1994 genocide and the struggle for control of DRC's vast mineral resources.
Germany stops new aid to Rwanda over DRC conflict
Image: Hugh Kinsella Cunningham/Getty Images
Germany said on Tuesday it had halted new development aid to Rwanda and was reviewing its existing commitments in response to the African nation's role in the conflict in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The German development ministry said Berlin had informed Rwanda in advance of the move and urged it to withdraw support for the M23 rebel group, which has made advances in eastern DRC.
DRC, UN experts and Western powers accuse Rwanda of backing the group. Rwanda denies this and says it is defending itself against ethnic Hutu-led militias bent on slaughtering Tutsis in DRC and threatening Rwanda.
Rwanda's foreign ministry called Germany's action "wrong and counterproductive".
"Countries like Germany that bear a historical responsibility for the recurring instability in this region should know better than to apply one-sided, coercive measures," Rwanda's foreign ministry said in a statement late on Tuesday.
The German ministry said Berlin last pledged aid of €93.6m (R1.84bn) to Rwanda in October 2022 for the period 2022 to 2024.
The M23 group has captured swathes of eastern DRC and valuable mineral deposits since January.
The ongoing onslaught is the gravest escalation of a long-running conflict rooted in the spillover into DRC of Rwanda's 1994 genocide and the struggle for control of DRC's vast mineral resources.
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