“Nowadays, none of us can afford to be indifferent to geopolitical trends. Whether or not you believe that there was a rules-based international order, it is clear that changes are underway, which will affect all of us.
One thing that has not changed, however, is that right and duty of every nation, to ensure the safety of its borders and its people. It is that duty that never changes. Rwanda is no exception. And yet, for reasons that continue to elude us, Rwanda is consistently asked to ignore threats to its security and compromise its national defence.
The conflict in eastern DRC is neither new, nor is it too difficult to understand. It has been prolonged for decades, due to neglect and complacency, notably by those with the power to make the biggest difference in resolving it. Rwanda’s security concerns stem from the continued presence of the FDLR and its violent extremist ideology, which is the ideology of genocide. Unfortunately, that seems to have some backers in the region and beyond, under all kinds of guises.
Rwanda, because of its history and its geography, requires defensible borders. Our defensive measures are aimed at this objective, and nothing else.” President Kagame | Diplomatic Dinner