On Tuesday, March 8, 2022, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Lipavský received the Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Vincent Biruta. Rwanda highly values the role played by Czech diplomacy in the UN Security Council during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Minister Lipavský and his Rwandan counterpart Vincent Biruta discussed the situation in Europe, with an emphasis on Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine. Rwanda voted in favour of the United Nations General Assembly resolution condemning Russia’s aggression, as it has her own tragic experiences with genocide. In addition, there are still several thousand African students in Ukraine, including Rwandan citizens.
The ministers’ discussion also focused on the political and security situation in Africa, where Rwanda is actively involved as a major contributor to the United Nations and African Union peacekeeping operations. Deepening cooperation in the field of security is one of the main goals of the visit, as Rwanda considers the Czech Republic a possible strategic partner.
Rwanda also plays a significant role in the fight against terrorist groups operating in northern Mozambique. Minister Lipavský praised this commitment, as “security and stability are prerequisites for prosperity.”
In a wide-ranging debate on the current security and political situation in the Sahel, Ministers Lipavský and Biruta agreed that in order to address security challenges, it is necessary to focus on their root causes – poor governance and insufficient levels of basic services provided by the state, such as healthcare or education. Terrorist and criminal groups then exploit these weaknesses.
The Czech and Rwandan delegations also talked about deepening of bilateral relations and economic cooperation between the Czech Republic and Rwanda – healthcare and agriculture are among the promising areas. Rwandan’s economy is one of the fastest growing on the African continent and has ambitions to profile itself as a modern, open economy focused on services, including the tourism industry, information technology and high value-added industrial and agricultural production. Rwanda is therefore interested in establishing cooperation in the field of advanced technologies.
The Ministers further assessed the state of the legal framework existing between the two countries: Negotiations are currently underway on the Double Taxation Agreement and the Air Transport Agreement. At the end of the meeting, Minister Lipavský and Minister Biruta signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing a mechanism for regular consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and Rwanda.