Political relations

France maintains a relationship of trust with the DRC, based on our country’s resolute actions - in particular within the United Nations Security Council - to ensure the culmination of the delicate transition process initiated in 2002.

This relationship of trust is manifest in a steady dialogue with the DRC government. Joseph Kabila was received by the French President, Jacques Chirac, in January and November 2001, on 9 September 2002, 3 February 2004 and 21 September 2006 in New York alongside the UNGA. The Congolese President made an official visit to a France on 16 and 17 July 2008.

The French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dominique de Villepin, went to Kinshasa on 22 and 23 September 2002, and the Minister of Cooperation, Brigitte Girardin, visited on 21 November 2005 and 24 March 2007. The Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Bernard Kouchner, visited the DRC (Kinshasa and then Goma in Nord-Kivu) on 25 and 26 January 2008, as did Jean-Louis Borloo, Minister of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Land-use Planning (22-24 May 2008), and Rama Yade, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Human Rights (7-10 June 2008). Mr.Kouchner went to Kinshasa and Goma again on 1 November 2008, together with his British counterpart, David Miliband, and the Secretary of State for Cooperation and Francophonie, Alain Joyandet. This latter represented France on 7 November at the Nairobi Summit on the crisis in the eastern part of the DRC. Ms.Yade went to the DRC again (Kinshasa and Nord-Kivu) from 29 November to 1 December 2008. The Congolese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Thambwe Mwamba, met with Bernard Kouchner and Rama Yade in Paris on 15 December 2008. The DRC’s Senate President, Kengo wa Dondo, and National Assembly President, Vital Kamerhe, went to France in May and November 2008, respectively. Finally, the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, made a visit to the DRC on 26 March 2009, during which he spoke to the Parliament.

France’s actions in the DRC are guided by a commitment to the principle of respect for this country’s sovereignty and integrity.

France was an active participant in the international community’s efforts to allow for the conclusion of the electoral process. Accordingly, in 2004 and 2005, France provided the DRC with budgetary aid of 5 million euros, 3 million euros of which were earmarked for the establishment of the independent electoral commission. In 2006, an additional one million euros were provided to fund the electoral process.

In terms of security, France has particularly invested in the reform of the DRC’s police (training and equipping of the rapid intervention police, construction of a criminal police officer training school in Kinshasa, etc.), and is currently stepping up its army-related actions (establishment of co-operants with the military staff, support for integrated brigades, formation of the battalion intended for forces pending the ECCAS, etc.). In addition, it plays a major role in the European Union missions, EUPOL and EUSEC.

Updated on 25.03.09