Check against delivery! 

Thank you, President, Honourable Minister, Honourable Members [of the European Parliament], 

The European Union is extremely concerned by the worsening security landscape in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the mounting bilateral tensions between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.  

Notwithstanding multiple Summits and meetings under the aegis of the regional initiatives launched to secure peace, the Luanda and Nairobi processes, the situation has not improved. The reciprocally hostile rhetoric of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda has not abated. The level of hate speech and ethnic violence is rising to alarming levels. Several cross-border incidents, including recently, remind us that the threat to regional security is all too real.  

The European Union has repeatedly and insistently expressed its full, unequivocal support to the Luanda and Nairobi processes, and it does so once again. It is imperative that the decisions reached and confirmed under the frame of these processes be comprehensively respected and fully implemented by all parties. This includes stopping any collusion and support, direct or indirect, to non-state armed groups that operate in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the broader region.   

The European Union urges the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda to exercise maximum restraint and restore an atmosphere of bilateral dialogue and mutual trust. A conflict between these two countries, directly or by proxy, would be an unmitigated disaster for both and the region as a whole, and one that would affect the most vulnerable the hardest.  

The region’s tragic history, and the aggravating humanitarian situation in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a consequence of the recent cycle of violence, bear powerful witness to the enormous sufferings and damage this can cause.  

The European Union will continue to closely monitor developments on the ground and work towards peace and security in the Great Lakes, in close consultation with Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but also with all our other partners in the region and beyond.  

Thank you very much and I look forward to the debate.  

 Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-237086  

 Closing Remarks  

Thank you President, Honourable Members [of the European Parliament],  

I want to thank you for this debate, which shows the importance that you attach to the situation in the Great Lakes. I reassure you that the European Union is continuously monitoring the situation.  

The European Union calls on all its partners to redouble our common efforts to secure peace in the Great Lakes region. It is ready to offer its renewed contribution to this joint endeavour and will do so by way of a new Great Lakes strategy, foreseen for adoption in the coming weeks.  

Through the deployment of its tools and policies under the frame of this new strategy and following an integrated approach, the European Union will aim to help the region put an end to the continuous cycle of violence in the region and move from insecurity to trust. The people of Rwanda and the DRC, and the region as a whole, deserve of course to live in peace with themselves and their neighbours. 

Thank you. 

 Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-237088