Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
10BRUSSELS70
2010-01-21 15:17:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Brussels
Cable title:  

BELGIUM:CENTRAL AFRICA, ESPECIALLY THE DRC, IS

Tags:  PREL PGOV EAID CG RW BY BE 
pdf how-to read a cable
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DE RUEHBS #0070/01 0211517
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O 211517Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9920
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHJB/AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA IMMEDIATE 0056
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL IMMEDIATE 0392
RUEHLGB/AMEMBASSY KIGALI IMMEDIATE 0452
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA IMMEDIATE 0571
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RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RHEFDHN/DIA DH WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 000070 

SIPDIS


STATE PASS USAID, EUR/WE, EUR/ERA, EUR/PGI, AND AF/C

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2059
TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID CG RW BY BE
SUBJECT: BELGIUM:CENTRAL AFRICA, ESPECIALLY THE DRC, IS
BELGIUM'S MAIN FOREIGN ASSISTANCE PRIORITY

REF: A. 09 BRUSSELS 1581

B. 09 BRUSSELS 1425

C. 09 BRUSSELS 1315

Classified By: Ambassador Howard Gutman for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 000070

SIPDIS


STATE PASS USAID, EUR/WE, EUR/ERA, EUR/PGI, AND AF/C

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2059
TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID CG RW BY BE
SUBJECT: BELGIUM:CENTRAL AFRICA, ESPECIALLY THE DRC, IS
BELGIUM'S MAIN FOREIGN ASSISTANCE PRIORITY

REF: A. 09 BRUSSELS 1581

B. 09 BRUSSELS 1425

C. 09 BRUSSELS 1315

Classified By: Ambassador Howard Gutman for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).


1. (C) Summary: Foreign Minister's Vanackere's week long
trip to Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi from January 18 to 25,
underscores the importance of Central Africa to Belgium. For
the Belgian political class and the media, Central Africa,
especially the Congo, is the chief foreign policy concern.
All three former colonies are partner countries for foreign
assistance that sign agreements with the GOB and receive
Belgian Technical Assistance personnel in country; the Congo
received 7.6 percent of total Belgian aid in 2006. Belgium
has signed a new partnership agreement with Burundi that
provides an incentive for improved political governance in
the form of additional aid and is working on a similar
agreement with the Congo. The Development Minister's Chief
of Staff recently told the Ambassador that Afghanistan could
not become a partner country because of the weak governance
capacity of the GoA and the security situation. He added
that aid could still be increased to non-partner countries.
End Summary.


2. (C) FM Vanackere will make his first official trip to
Central Africa as Foreign Minister January 18 to 25.
According to Congo Desk Officer, Hugues Chantry, FM Vanackere
will meet all the key players. He will be visiting:
Kinshasa (January 18-20),Goma January 20-21, Gisenyi and
Kigali, Rwanda January 22-23, and then Bujumbura January
24-25. The length of the trip underscores the importance of
Central Africa, especially the DRC, in Belgian foreign
policy. During his weekly address to Parliament on January
12, FM Vanackere said he wanted to ensure that the renewed
friendship between Belgium and the DRC would stay on track,
prior to the June 2010 Commemoration of Congolese
Independence from Belgium, to which the GOB has been invited
to participate.

--------------
DRC Is Central

--------------


3. (C) Belgian political, economic, human rights, and foreign
aid policy towards its former colonies in Central Africa (the
DRC, Rwanda, and Burundi) are regularly debated in the media.
The Foreign Minister is often questioned more on specifics
of Central African foreign and assistance policy by
Parliament than any other region. Former Foreign Minister De
Gucht was strongly criticized for his blunt statement in
April 2008 criticizing the DRC government, which led to a
suspension of diplomatic ties between the DRC and Belgium for
almost eight months. The politically influential francophone
Liberal (MR) Michel family has long taken a political
interest in DRC policy. Former FM and later EU Commissioner
for Development Louis Michel (see ref A) was one of De
Gucht's strongest critics. His son Charles Michel is now
Minister of Behn. Even a politician@re Democratic Humanist (Cdinister of Employment and r
in her official biohonate about
Africa."`nce to its former colons Belgium's main aid priority. Belgium recently
completed a new assistance agreement with the government of
Burun$i (ref c) that will increase guaranteed aid from EUR 40
million to EUR 50 million per year forfour years and add a
50 million incentive forcertain political improvements--a
successful Qlection in 2010. Belgium is planning a new
agreement of EUR 75 million per year (EUR 300 mllion over
four years) with the DRC. This ageement will also include
an incentive: EUR 10 million the last two years (EUR 50
million Qn 2013 and 2014) if the DRC holds a successful
election in 2011 and meets certain political and
macroeconomic governance benchmarks. TheDRC has been the
largest recipient by far of Belgian aid for some time; in
2008, the GOB provided EUR 122 million or 7.6 percent of
Belgium's global assistance to the DRC, a decrease from 11.2
percent in 2006. The DRC, Burundi, and Rwanda are among the
eighteen priority countries for Belgian aid. Priority

BRUSSELS 00000070 002 OF 002


countries must sign agreements that include the creation of a
bilateral commission to work together to identify and
cooperate on priority projects. Belgian Technical assistance
has Belgian administrators on the ground in such partner
countries.

--------------
Afghanistan
--------------


5. (C) Development Minister Michel's Chief of Staff Bruno Van
der Pluijm recently cautioned the Ambassador and A/DCM at a
luncheon on Belgium's Africa policy (ref B),that requests to
make Afghanistan a priority country for Belgian assistance
were not possible and were counterproductive. Van der Pluijm
said establishing a bilateral commission was not plausible
between Belgium and Afghanistan considering the weak
governing capacity of the Afghan government. He also cited
the security situation as obviating the possibility of
sending Belgian Aid technical experts to Afghanistan. On the
positive side, he noted Belgium's doubling of aid to
Afghanistan from EUR 6 million to EUR 12 million, and
explained that this money would be distributed through the UN
and NGOs rather than administered directly by Belgium.
Finally, he pointed out that some partner countries receive
substantially less assistance than Afghanistan, underscoring
the possibility of increasing aid to non-partner countries.
(Note: Ministry of Development statistics differ. Algeria is
the only partner country that receives less than Afghanistan
by a marginal amount. End Note.) He added that further
requests to make Afghanistan a partner country would only
cause frustration within Belgian Technical Cooperation and
undermine the U.S. argument.


6. (C) Comment: Aid to the nations of Central Africa is and
will remain Belgium's main assistance priority. The United
States should remain cognizant of this fact when we ask for
increased assistance to U.S. aid priorities, such as
Afghanistan. Requests to treat U.S. priorities on the same
footing as Belgium's traditional and current priorities will
meet resistance. We should stress the new importance the
Obama Administration and Secretary Clinton place on working
together with Belgium in Central Africa. At the same time,
we can remind Belgium that Afghanistan is a NATO priority
that requires special attention.

GUTMAN
.