GOMA, DR Congo: The M23 armed group, which controls large parts of eastern DR Congo, on Friday described a call by the French president to reopen Goma airport as “inopportune.”
President Emmanuel Macron said the key airport would open “in the coming weeks” for humanitarian flights, during an international conference on Thursday on the crisis in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The region — bordering Rwanda with abundant natural resources but plagued by non-state armed groups — has suffered extreme violence for more than three decades.
The crisis intensified with the 2021 resurgence of the M23 — a Rwandan-backed armed group fighting the Kinshasa authorities — and came to a head early this year when the militia seized the key cities of Goma and Bukavu.
Goma airport was the scene of fierce fighting during the city’s capture in January and has since remained closed.
The M23, which was not invited to the Paris conference on supporting peace and prosperity in the Great Lakes region, “considers inopportune France’s call for the reopening” of Goma airport, spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka said in a statement.
“Such an initiative must only be undertaken within the framework of negotiations currently under way in Doha under Qatari mediation,” he added.
The Congolese government and the M23 signed a declaration of principles on July 19 in Qatar that included a “permanent ceasefire” aimed at halting the conflict.
It followed a separate US-brokered peace deal between the Congolese and Rwandan governments signed in Washington in June.
However, efforts to end the conflict have proved slow to take effect on the ground.
Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe has also expressed doubts.
“Paris cannot reopen an airport, as the primary stakeholders are absent,” he said on Thursday, referring to the M23 group.
Humanitarian officials have voiced doubts, too, about a possible reopening and underlined that the land route remains essential for delivering aid to areas under M23 control.
The M23 said in its statement that there was “no longer a humanitarian emergency” in areas under its control.
After seizing Goma, the M23 ordered displaced people living on the outskirts of the city to return home and in a few days emptied makeshift camps where hundreds of thousands had been living in dire conditions.
The Paris conference raised more than 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) in international aid for the region, Macron announced.
France’s call for Goma airport to reopen ‘inopportune’: M23 group
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France’s call for Goma airport to reopen ‘inopportune’: M23 group
- President Emmanuel Macron said the key airport would open “in the coming weeks” for humanitarian flights
- Goma airport was the scene of fierce fighting during the city’s capture in January and has since remained closed
Bulgarian parliament approves resignation of ruling coalition
- The 240-seat chamber voted 127-0 to accept the resignation
SOFIA: Bulgarian parliament has approved the resignation of the coalition government of Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov amid nationwide anti-corruption protests, and weeks ahead of the country’s scheduled euro zone entry.
Protesters, many of them young Bulgarians, have been protesting in the tens of thousands across the nation for weeks.
The direct trigger was a proposed budget for next year that would have increased taxes and social security contributions to finance more state spending.
The deeper cause, however, was rising anger over a perception of widespread corruption among the political elite and a sense that justice does not prevail for ordinary citizens.
BACKGROUND
The protests and the fall of the ninth government in five years underscored Bulgaria’s political instability.
The protests and the fall of the 9th government in five years underscored the country’s political instability as it plans to join the common European currency.
The 240-seat chamber voted 127-0 to accept the resignation.
The Cabinet will continue performing its duties until a new government is elected.
Zhelyazkov’s minority government survived six votes of no confidence since it was appointed in January, but this time the large turnout of protesters on the streets changed the game.
The prime minister announced his resignation on Thursday, saying it was a direct response to the growing public pressure and that the demand for the government to step down had become impossible to ignore.
“Vox populi, vox Dei,” Zhelyazkov said, using a Latin expression meaning “the voice of the people is the voice of God.”
In the next step, President Rumen Radev must allow the largest parliamentary group to form a new government. If that fails, the second-largest grouping will get a chance before the president chooses a candidate.
If all attempts fail — which is likely — Radev will appoint a caretaker Cabinet until a new election is held. Political analysts expect that another election — the eighth since 2021 — will likely produce a deeply fragmented parliament, making it difficult to form a stable government.
The Balkan country of 6.4 million people is due to make the switch from its national currency, the lev, to the euro on Jan. 1, to become the euro zone’s 21st member.
Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007.
