BELGIAN-DRC RELATIONS AT A NADIR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000519

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/11/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM BE CG
SUBJECT: BELGIAN-DRC RELATIONS AT A NADIR

REF: A. KINSHASA 475

B. BRUSSELS 719

C. BRUSSELS 819

Classified By: DCM S. Brock for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: Diplomatic relations between the Democratic
Republic of the Congo and Belgium remain tense following
controversial statements by Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De
Gucht on human rights, good governance, and corruption in the
DRC (ref C). The Congolese government has recalled to
Kinshasa its ambassador to Belgium for consultations and
closed its consulate in Antwerp. In addition, the GDRC sent
a signal of protest over the weekend of May 24 by ordering
the Belgian consulates-general in Bukavu and Lubumbashi to
cease operations. These posts closed June 2, but the Belgian
diplomats in those provincial cities were not ordered to
leave the DRC. The developments are but the latest chapter
in long history of mutual distrust and personal dislike
between President Kabila and Foreign Minister De Gucht. End
summary.


2. (C) Critical comments on May 20 by Belgian Foreign
Minister Karel de Gucht on human rights, good governance, and
corruption in the DRC (ref C) triggered a rapid cooling in
relations between Belgium and the DRC. On May 23, the GDRC
recalled its ambassador to Belgium to Kinshasa for
consultations. A Belgian embassy political officer explained
June 3 that the GDRC decision was made easier by the fact
that the ambassador was already in Kinshasa. He will not
return to Brussels for the time being.


3. (C) The same day, the GDRC announced the closure of its
consulate in Antwerp. The Belgian officer told us the
decision was mostly a ploy for the Congolese government to
dismiss its consul there, who was named during the Transition
government prior to democratic elections in 2006. The party
allotted the foreign affairs portfolio during the transition
was the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC),
headed by Jean-Pierre Bemba. Bemba's appointee as consul in
Antwerp has refused to take instructions from Kabila's
government, militating instead for Bemba.


4. (C) The officer told us the GDRC sent the Belgian embassy
an official request via dip note over the weekend of May
23-24 ordering Belgium to close its consulates-general in
Bukavu and Lubumbashi. The Belgian government replied
publicly that it did not want to do so. Belgian Prime
Minister Yves Leterme followed up with a phone call to Prime
Minister Gizenga May 27 in an attempt to repair relations and
avoid closing the two posts.


5. (C) According to the officer, Katanga Governor Moise
Katumbi and South Kivu Governor Louis Muderhwa, both members
of Kabila,s PPRD, met respectively with the Belgian
consuls-general June 2 to tell them they must close
operations. They did so the same day. Instead of relocating
to Kinshasa, the consuls-general will temporarily relocate to
Brussels. The Belgian embassy will continue to support
security and maintenance staff at the consulates.


6. (C) The officer made clear that no Belgian diplomat has
been expelled from the country. He said Belgium does not
currently plan to send a special envoy to repair relations.
It will continue to work through official channels to resume
good, normal diplomatic relations.


7. (C) Presidential Advisor Andre Kapanga told us June 5
that De Gucht,s comment that Belgium had a "moral right" for
involvement in the DRC was the final straw in a festering
relationship between De Gucht and Kabila. According to
Kapanga, who was Kabila's political and diplomatic counselor
at the time, this began with De Gucht,s first visit to the
DRC following his July 2004 appointment as Foreign Minister.
Kapanga claimed De Gucht has lectured Kabila and other senior
officials every time he has come to Kinshasa. Meetings have
sometimes ended in shouting matches.


8. (C) Kapanga said that following the 2006 elections Kabila
thought that relations with Belgium might start with a clean
slate. However, De Gucht,s tone and attitude did not
change. Kapanga said that the GDRC views De Gucht as a
politician more concerned with a domestic constituency in
Belgium than in developing a strong relationship with the DRC.


9. (C) Comment: The deterioration of Belgium-DRC relations

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appears to be based in large part on the distrust and
personal dislike between De Gucht and Kabila. Kabila's
decision to downgrade diplomatic relations between the two
countries is a signal that negative consequences will accrue
unless Belgium's leaders change their attitude and official
discourse. For the wider diplomatic community, the chill in
relations risks prejudicing an ongoing dialogue on wide array
of legitimate human rights and good governance issues. End
comment.
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