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The Central African nation has labeled the European Union's persistent minerals agreement with Rwanda as showing "evident hypocrisy" while implementing significantly wider penalties in response to the Ukrainian crisis.

Diplomatic Sharp Rebuke

Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, the African nation's foreign minister, demanded the EU to enact significantly tougher restrictions against Rwanda, which has been alleged to exacerbate the conflict in Congo's eastern region.

"It represents evident inconsistency – I want to be constructive here – that makes us questioning and interested about grasping why the EU continues to hesitate so much to implement measures," she declared.

Peace Agreement Background

The DRC and Rwanda ratified a conflict resolution in June, facilitated by the America and Qatar, designed to end the protracted dispute.

However, deadly attacks on civilians have persisted and a target date to establish a comprehensive peace agreement was missed in August.

Expert Assessment

Last year, a international assessment team found that up to 4,000 Rwandan troops were supporting the M23 insurgent faction and that the Rwandan military was in "actual command of M23 operations."

Rwanda has continually refuted backing M23 and maintains its forces act in national security.

Leadership Call

The DRC president, Félix Tshisekedi, recently appealed to his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, to stop supporting armed groups in the DRC during a European gathering attended by both leaders.

"This requires you to command the M23 troops supported by your country to end this deterioration, which has already caused sufficient deaths," the president declared.

European Measures

The EU has imposed restrictions against 32 persons and two groups – a armed faction and a Rwandan mineral treatment facility dealing in unauthorized sources of the metal – for their participation in prolonging the conflict.

Despite these findings of human rights abuses by the Rwandan army in the DRC, the EU executive has rejected requests to cancel a 2024 mining agreement with Kigali.

Resource Concerns

Wagner characterized the partnership with Rwanda as "void of any credibility in a context where it has been established that Rwanda has been diverting DRC minerals" mined under brutal conditions of forced labour, affecting children.

The United States and many others have expressed alarm about unauthorized transactions in mineral resources in DRC's east, extracted via compulsory work, then trafficked to Rwanda for shipment to finance militant factions.

Human Catastrophe

The violence in Congo's east remains one of the world's gravest human catastrophes, with over 7.8 million people relocated within country in affected areas and 28 million experiencing nutritional challenges, including 4 million at crisis conditions, according to UN assessments.

International Engagement

As the DRC's chief diplomat, Wagner approved the deal with Rwanda at the White House in June, which also aims to give the United States expanded opportunity to DRC minerals.

She maintained that the US remains involved in the resolution efforts and dismissed suggestions that sole motivation was the DRC's significant natural resources.

International Collaboration

The EU leader, Ursula von der Leyen, inaugurated a summit by emphasizing that the EU wanted "collaboration based on mutual benefits and acknowledging autonomy."

She emphasized the Lobito corridor – transportation infrastructure transport links – connecting the mineral heartlands of the DRC and Zambia to Angola's western shoreline.

Wagner admitted that the EU and DRC had a solid basis in the Lobito project, but "significant aspects has been diminished by the crisis in Congo's east."