The president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Félix Tshisekedi, insisted this Wednesday before the UN on an “accelerated” withdrawal of the Blue Helmets from his country starting at the end of 2023, regretting that “they have not managed to confront” the armed forces. groups.
“It is time for our country to assume full control of its destiny and become the main actor in its own stability,” he said at the UN General Assembly.
With this objective, the “gradual” withdrawal of the UN peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO) and its more than 15,000 Blue Helmets “is a necessary step to consolidate the progress we have already achieved,” he estimated.
Cautious withdrawal
He regretted that the UN missions present for almost 25 years “have failed to confront the rebellions and armed conflicts that tear this country and the Great Lakes region apart or to protect civilian populations.”
Since 2020, the UN Security Council has begun a cautious withdrawal, approving a gradual withdrawal plan that sets broad parameters for transferring responsibilities from peacekeepers to Congolese forces. With the horizon 2024 in mind.
But “this phased, responsible and lasting withdrawal plan” of MONUSCO is “anachronistic”, insisted the Congolese president, considering it “illusory and counterproductive to continue clinging to the maintenance of MONUSCO to restore peace” in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
He asked his government to begin talks with the UN for “the accelerated withdrawal of MONUSCO from the Democratic Republic of the Congo by reducing the start of this gradual withdrawal from December 2024 to December 2023”, the date of the next elections.
Source: BFM TV
