Rwanda: Rwanda Urges Global Backing Against FDLR Threat, Hails Kenya Ties

What the report says

Rwanda has urged international support for its efforts to confront the FDLR militia in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, framing the group as a continuing security threat to Kigali. According to Capital FM, the appeal was made in Nairobi by Rwanda’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr Usta Kaitesi, during a briefing for diplomats accredited to Rwanda but based in Kenya.

Kaitesi said Rwanda is pursuing several diplomatic channels to help end the long-running crisis in eastern DRC, while arguing that the FDLR remains at the center of Rwanda’s security concerns. She also criticized the Congolese government for not fully neutralizing the group, which Rwanda links to the forces involved in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. Her remarks also touched on Rwanda’s concerns about anti-Tutsi rhetoric and violence in parts of eastern Congo, alongside the situation of marginalized communities, including Kinyarwanda-speaking populations.

The briefing followed Kaitesi’s visit to Kenya for the 10th Kenya-Rwanda Joint Permanent Commission for Cooperation. She described the meeting as productive and said the two countries signed 11 memoranda of understanding to deepen ties across several sectors. She highlighted trade and energy links through the Northern Corridor and cited a recent refined petroleum shipment through Mombasa as an example of the partnership.

Kaitesi also said Rwanda will take on the Group of 77 chairmanship in 2027 and use that role to push for multilateral reform, wider Global South representation at the UN, and changes to the international financial system. The broader significance of the statement is that Rwanda is coupling its security message on eastern Congo with efforts to strengthen regional and global diplomatic alliances.