GERMANY, RWANDA AGREE TO RESTORE NORMAL RELATIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L KIGALI 000031 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/21/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV RW SUBJECT: GERMANY, RWANDA AGREE TO RESTORE NORMAL RELATIONS REF: 08 KIGALI 796 Classified By: CDA Cheryl Sim for reasons 1.4 (b) (d) ¶1. (C) On January 19 the Rwandan and German governments jointly announced they would appoint new ambassadors: the two governments agreed to "post to each other's capitals new heads of their respective missions in the near future." Rwanda had withdrawn its ambassador and requested the departure of the German ambassador in Kigali following the November arrest of Presidential Chief of Protocol Rose Kabuye in Frankfort on a French-issued warrant. Daily protests began in front of the German embassy here immediately after her arrest. The protests ended when Kabuye returned home for the Christmas holidays, but did not start again when Kabuye returned to France on January 9. ¶2. (C) Pol/Econ Chief spoke with German Charge Maier about the current state of Rwandan-German relations January 20. Maier said that following internal German government discussions on relations with Rwanda and Germany's aid package to the GOR, the German Foreign Ministry approached the Rwandan embassy in Berlin and suggested the naming of new ambassadors. Matters moved very quickly after that, he commented. The GOR response was immediate, he said, and positive. Maier said he met with Foreign Minister Rosemary Museminali January 18 to finalize the agreement to exchange new ambassadors. ¶3. (C) Given the time it took administratively to identify a candidate and receive agrement, Maier did not think a new German ambassador would arrive in Kigali before the normal summer transfer season, in July or August. He noted that language in the joint press announcement pledging "to work together to iron out matters disagreed upon," referred mainly to FDLR operatives active in Germany. He pointed to comments in the government-associated New Times daily newspaper by Museminali on that same subject. Maier hoped that normal diplomatic dialogue would now be the channel of discussion on this and other topics, rather than by remarks to the press. ¶4. (C) Comment. With France and Rwanda appearing anxious to lessen tensions over the Kabuye case, the German government chose a propitious moment to approach the GOR, particularly following the Dutch and Swedish decisions to suspend their direct budget support. We expect the full range of German assistance to the GOR to continue unabated, following this announcement. We also see this as Rwanda welcoming engagement with an important partner rather than allowing itself to be increasingly isolated within Europe. End comment. SIM