Rwanda and Burundi officials meet to normalize bilateral relations

The Foreign Affairs ministers from Rwanda and Burundi on October 20 met at the Nemba-Gasenyi border point, in a mutual effort to normalize and regularise bilateral relations between the two neighbors, according to a news report by The Standard.

The Burundian delegation led by Foreign affairs minister Amb Albert Shingiro met the Rwandan delegation led by Dr. Vincent Biruta and underlined the need to continue their discussions to restore ties between Bujumbura and Kigali.

The meeting at Nemba border initiated by Burundi saw the two ministers engage in opening speeches before going for closed-door talks.

Shingiro thanked Rwanda for the warm welcome adding that his government was looking forward to expediting the process of mending relations though with fewer meetings.

"As the delegation from Burundi, we came here to express our willingness to work towards mending frosty relations. We want to ensure all issues affecting our two nations are fully addressed so that we can resume to co-existing together as neighbors and relatives," said Amb Shingiro.

The former Permanent Representative of Burundi to the United Nations also said Bujumbura and Kigali need no mediator to broker any bilateral deal because they know and understand each other well.

On his part, Rwanda’s Biruta said he was happy to receive the Burundian delegation to Nemba and welcomed the idea of having engagements not just as neighbors but as relatives.