Rwanda and Mozambique will continue joint security operations in northern Mozambique despite the European Union’s decision to suspend part of the funding for the mission, Rwanda’s foreign minister said Tuesday.
Foreign Minister Olivier Jean Patrick Nduhungirehe said Mozambique had agreed to continue financing the deployment of Rwandan forces in Cabo Delgado province, where they have been fighting an Islamist insurgency since 2021.
The EU had been providing about €20 million ($22 million) through the European Peace Facility to support the mission but is now reconsidering its involvement and shifting focus toward training Mozambique’s military.
In a statement posted on X, Nduhungirehe said Rwanda’s deployment helped restore stability in parts of Cabo Delgado, allowing displaced residents to return home, schools to reopen and businesses to resume operations.
He also said Rwandan forces had trained Mozambican troops and helped secure conditions for foreign investment, including multibillion-dollar liquefied natural gas projects led by European and American companies.
Nduhungirehe criticized some EU member states for what he described as politicizing support for the mission.
“Assistance intended for the people of Mozambique was turned into a basis for unjustified criticism against Rwanda,” he said.
He said Rwanda had decided to deepen direct cooperation with Mozambique, which he said would continue supporting the mission financially.
EU Ambassador to Mozambique Antonino Maggiore recently said discussions were underway among the bloc’s 27 member states on the future of the mission.
Asked whether the EU would continue funding Rwanda’s deployment, Maggiore said: “For now, no.”
Rwandan troops were first deployed to Cabo Delgado in July 2021 at Mozambique’s request after insurgent attacks destabilized the gas-rich province, displaced hundreds of thousands of people and threatened major energy projects.
