President Paul Kagame received the European Union Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region, Ambassador Johan Borgstam, at the State House where they held in-depth discussions focused on regional peace, security, and ongoing cooperation between Rwanda and the European Union in addressing challenges affecting the Great Lakes Region.
The Office of the President, Village Urugwiro, announced that the two leaders held talks on the afternoon of 14 June 2026.
Their discussions focused on current developments in the region, including efforts to find solutions to the ongoing insecurity in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, based on addressing its root causes, as well as promoting a sustainable path toward peace and security.
Security challenges in eastern DRC have persisted for many years, but they escalated further over the past five years following the resurgence of fighting by the M23 armed group.
It is a group that claims to defend the rights of Congolese who speak Kinyarwanda, particularly those from the Tutsi community, who are said to have often faced abuse, discrimination, and killings, with allegations that the authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo are involved.
The AFC/M23 coalition has engaged in fighting with the Congolese armed forces alliance, seizing control of various areas in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.
In efforts to resolve these conflicts, several peace agreements have been signed, but the issue persists, with claims that the DRC has not implemented its commitments and that violence against civilians has continued.
Since 2000, no fewer than 10 agreements have been signed, in addition to the Washington and Doha agreements that have also been referenced, yet the problem remains unresolved.
This is further compounded by more than 20 United Nations Security Council resolutions adopted in New York at the United Nations headquarters, all aimed at addressing the situation.
Although the United States of America led the signing of an agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 4 December 2025, no concrete steps had yet been taken to dismantle the FDLR armed group.
Rwanda maintains that if the FDLR is dismantled, it will also lift its defensive measures, as stipulated in the agreement reached between the two countries.
On the other hand, the DRC and the AFC/M23 coalition also recently signed commitments during talks held in Switzerland, although the government of Félix Tshisekedi continues to resist implementing the commitments it made.
