Belgium has refused to accredit Rwandan Ambassador Vincent Karega, according to news site Jambonews.net, which cites Rwandan diplomatic sources.
Karega was selected by President Paul Kagame in March to replace Dieudonné Sebashongore in Brussels. Four months since the appointment, Belgium's decision seems to have taken the Rwandan government by surprise and could further deteriorate relations between Brussels and Kigali.
Though the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has yet to officially comment, a spokesperson told AFP that "this type of issue is settled through official channels." Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo said on Wednesday that it "does not bode well" for diplomatic relations between the two countries.
"It is unfortunate that the Belgian government seems to have capitulated to pressure from the DRC government and propaganda from negationist organisations and activists," Makolo told AFP.
Former Ambassador to South Africa and the DRC
In April, Belgian human rights organisations expressed their concerns to Brussels over the appointment of Karega as ambassador, citing serious misconduct during his time as Ambassador to South Africa and then in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), writes Jambonews.net.
It was during Karega's time as ambassador in Pretoria that former Rwandan Army chief Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa was the victim of an assassination attempt, and the former Rwandan external intelligence chief, Patrick Karegeya, who had been granted political asylum in South Africa, was assassinated. In response, South Africa expelled three Rwandan diplomats in 2014.
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Most recently in October 2022, Karega was expelled from the DRC after the country claimed that Rwanda is supporting M23 rebels, a Tutsi rebel group operating in the DRC accused of war crimes by international human rights organisations.
Karega is also accused of denying Rwanda's role in the widespread killing of Congolese civilians in 1998 during its occupation of eastern regions of the DRC.
Previously tense diplomatic relationship
Belgium's rejection of Karega could further deteriorate an already tense diplomatic relationship after September 2021 when former Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sophie Wilmès stated that Paul Rusesabagina, a vocal critic of the Kagame administration and accused of terrorism by a court in Rwanda, had not been given a fair trial.
At the time, Kigali had been critical of "the contempt shown by the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium towards the Rwanda judicial system."
