Foreign Affairs Minister Louise Mushikiwabo was earlier this week in Brussels, where she met European Union officials in a series of high-level meetings.

High on the agenda was the Rwanda-DRC situation, the continued partnership between the EU and Rwandan government, among other development-related issues.

Minister Mushikiwabo first met with the Baroness Catherine Ashton, Vice-President of the European Union Commission, who doubles as the Representative for Foreign Affairs. Both sides mutually agreed to intensify efforts to diplomatically resolve the DRC crisis.

The Foreign Affairs Minister then proceeded to another meeting with Andris Piebalgs, European Commissioner for Development. Here Mushikiwabo reiterated Rwanda and her neighbors' sole interest, which is peace and prosperity in the DRC, which would then have a spill-over effect to the rest of the countries in the region.

Piebalgs welcomed the visit by Mushikiwabo, pledging continued support from the EU to Rwanda, stressing the importance of intensifying regional cooperation among the countries in the Great Lakes Region, especially in the areas of energy and infrastructure.

According to him, development projects of this type have the greatest positive impact on local populations, and are most affected by the consequences of recurrent instability in the sub-region.

About the author

Gahiji Innocent is the chief political columnist for Newsofrwanda.He grew up in Kampala,Uganda before moving to Rwanda.His column is syndicated to newspapers around the country. He has written columns from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt, Israel and South Africa. Gahiji , who has a B.A. degree in English from the University of Illinois, has been a Poynter Media Fellow at Yale University,