Belgium, sidelined from the Washington and Doha peace tracks, is once again scrambling to insert itself into the Congolese crisis, this time by weaponizing humanitarian rhetoric.
Unable to penetrate the serious mediation efforts led by Washington and Doha, Brussels has opted for a familiar strategy: using “humanitarian concern” as leverage to regain relevance.
Belgian Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Prévot, frustrated by his country’s diplomatic marginalization, is now pushing the European Union to re-enter the Congolese conflict (under a humanitarian banner).
To attract attention from EU member states, Prévot dramatically declared that “a woman is raped every four minutes and a child every 30 minutes in eastern DRC.” He then insisted on the urgent reopening of Goma airport so that Belgium can supposedly steps in to save suffering Congolese.
Colonialist mindsets know no shame.
Even more revealing is Prévot’s political positioning. He openly calls for the withdrawal of AFC/M23 and Rwanda from eastern DRC, language that mirrors Kinshasa’s propaganda almost word for word. In doing so, he places himself squarely against the ongoing Doha and Washington peace processes.
Also, rather than support dialogue, Prévot has chosen to echo Tshisekedi’s rhetoric, undermining serious diplomatic efforts in favor of posturing.
Let us be clear: the worsening insecurity in eastern DRC is financed and sustained by Tshisekedi’s international backers Belgium included, alongside other actors who profit handsomely from Congo’s mineral wealth. To pretend otherwise is intellectual dishonesty.
Humanitarian aid should never be an end in itself. It must be part of a broader approach that addresses root causes: political exclusion, militarization, ethnic targeting, and economic exploitation. What Prévot is offering instead is political bait aid stripped of context, accountability, and sincerity.
Belgium is a close partner of the Tshisekedi regime, a regime implicated in massacres against the Banyamulenge and Congolese Tutsis. Yet Brussels chooses silence, while flooding the media with statistics meant to distract public opinion. Not a word of condemnation for atrocities committed by the FARDC, their Wazalendo militias, or Burundian forces operating on Congolese soil.
Belgium cannot restrain Kinshasa from bombing Banyamulenge communities on a near-daily basis. It does not advocate for reopening banks so civilians can access their own savings. It does nothing to stop targeted violence. Yet it insists we believe that reopening Goma airport is suddenly the key to humanitarian salvation.
Maxime Prévot is hypocrisy personified.
ellenkampire