3 lessons you can learn from the process of restoring Burundi and Rwanda strangled relations.

RegionWeek Newsletter Vol III, Issue #135 | Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Oct 21, 2020

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This Tuesday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Rwanda Dr. Vincent Biruta met with his Burundian counterpart Amb. Albert Shingiro for a working visit at the Nemba-Gasenyi border, in a mutual effort to normalize bilateral relations between Burundi and Rwanda.

At the end of the closed session, the Burundian Minister in charge of Foreign Affairs handed to his Rwandan counterpart, a written message from the Government of the Republic of Burundi, to the Government of the Republic of Rwanda. Similarly, the Rwandan Minister had a written message to the Government of the Republic of Burundi.

This meeting falls within the framework of the shared desire to assess the state of bilateral relations between the two neighboring countries and to agree on the modalities of their normalization.

In a joint Communiqué, Ambassador Albert SHINGIRO, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation of the Republic of Burundi invited his Counterpart, Dr. Vincent BIRUTA, to make a reciprocal visit to Burundi. The invitation was accepted on a date to be agreed between the parties through diplomatic channels.

In today’s newsletter, I won’t go deeper into explaining Burundi and Rwanda’s conflict and its ramifications. I would like to invite you to explore 3 key lessons we can learn from the process of restoring Burundi and Rwanda strangled relations.

But first, if you haven’t followed updates on Rwanda-Burundi diplomatic tensions, I would recommend reading our recent pieces on the topic below:

Lesson I: Respect your neighbor he might be the most valuable shield you have

Analysts still believe that tighter rapprochement between Burundi and Rwanda leaders since 2005, apart from historic ties, had among motivations business and security reasons for Rwanda, and strategic and networking reasons for Burundi.

Rwanda could count on Burundi in the fight against the FDLR-Interahamwe, Intelligence, and resources were shared between the two countries especially about the common borders with DRC. Burundi leaders benefited from Rwanda’s western diplomatic and regional strategic network, especially in the attempt to sell the Burundi Model on Dialogue and Reconciliation.

Unofficial sources locate the breakup between Burundi-Rwanda, after intelligence leakage on “Burundian extremists in the opposition” securing support from Kigali for a regime change project that escalated in 2015. Late President Nkurunziza met President Kagame in the first attempt to sort out the issue, but it was reported that Rwanda chose to bet on a regime change project by the Burundian opposition leaders. The consequences were that Intelligence was no longer shared worries were amplified, business suffered and diplomatic pressure intensified in retaliation.

Analysts believe that the two countries would have made much progress economically and diplomatically if they had respected their mutual interests, and I agree with them.

Lesson II: Learn from your neighbor he might be smarter than you think

Very few Burundians in the Burundi leadership system and out of it may agree with the fact that Rwanda is becoming smarter and that they should sit down and learn more about discipline and preparedness in the matter of regional and pan-African integration process.

The reality is, after wars and crises, there is room for business and diplomacy. The way you position yourself is the way you get considered. The more disciplined you become and the more sacrifice you make, the great are probabilities to win big.

On the other side, few Rwandan may be humble enough to agree that supporting a regime change project led by undisciplined and opportunist actors was a costly mistake. Losing a strong security ally like Burundi, an avid market to sell to, was an unnecessary risk that led to unfruitful endeavors.

As time goes by, the reality is, even though you may consider yourself smart, make sure to not underestimate the obstacles towards your goals, and above all make sure that your partners are prepared and disciplined as you are.

Lesson III: There is no such thing as friendship between countries

Smart actors in diplomatic business are becoming increasingly conscious that alliances are not exclusively based on shared values or feelings of friendship. That is a hard truth to grasp for people who tend to be emotional when they think about who is winning and who is losing on the diplomatic battlefield.

In diplomacy, there are only permanent interests, and the responsibility that lies ahead for Burundi and Rwanda negotiators is to skillfully reconcile interests shaped by the bumpy road that Burundi and Rwanda chose to go through in the last years.

Will Rwanda be smart enough to handover putschists and other information about criminals to help Burundi strengthen Justice and its Democratic culture? When will Rwandan products and investment flow again into the Burundi Market? Will Burundi cooperate fully on security matters with Rwanda as it used to be in the past?

I remain the eternal optimist and believe the day may come when Rwanda and Burundi should respect each other to understand that they can become important allies without even becoming friends as the rest of us understand it.

Wait and see!

Thanks for reading

Fabrice Iranzi, RegionWeek.com

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