Burundi maintains the excellent friendly relations with the partners

In presenting to the public the achievements of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation, His Excellency Ambassador Albert SHINGIRO testified that, within the framework of the promotion of international cooperation, Burundi participated in several meetings and forums. It is about the Summit of the Economic Community of Central African States in Libreville on july 1 preceded by the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Member States of the Economic Community of Central African States. Burundi also took part at the highest level in the Quadripartite Summit of the East African Community, Economic Community of Central African States, International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, Southern African Development Community, on june 27 in Luanda.

Burundi also participated at the highest level of the 20^th Extraordinary Summit of the Heads of State of the East African Community, held in Bujumbura on february 04, 2023. It then participated at the highest level of the 11^th Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the signatory countries of the Addis Ababa Framework Agreement for the Peace, Security and Cooperation for the DRC and the region, held in Bujumbura on may 06 2023. Burundi also participated at the highest level of the 21^st Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State of the East African Community which takes place on may 31, 2023, under the auspices of the President of the Summit of the Heads of State of the East African Community, H.E Evariste Ndayishimiye. He participated in the 36^th Summit of the Heads of State and the Government of the African Union, held in Addis Ababa from february 18 to 19, 2023.

Burundi participated in the Conference of the Heads of State and the Government of the Economic Community of Central African States, held in Kinshasa on february 25, 2023. Burundi also participated in the Summit of the Heads of State and the Government of the Less Developed Countries (LDCs), held in Doha, Qatar from march 3 to 10, 2023. Burundi also paid a working visit to Sochi in the Russian Federation from march 23 to 25, 2023 at the invitation of his Russian counterpart His Excellency Sergei Lavrov to assess the state of cooperation between the two countries linked by historical ties for 60 years. His counterpart reciprocated his visit on may 30, 2023 and he was received by the President of the Republic. He also participated in a working mission to Mogadishu in Somalia from april 23 to 25, 2023 to discuss the political and security situation in that country where Burundi has the contingents as well as the future of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), in particular on the process of disengagement from ATMIS. Burundi participated in the Ministerial Summit of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), in Kampala on april 26, 2023. Burundi participated in the High Level Summit on the World of Work held on the theme: “Social justice for all in the world of work” in Geneva, Switzerland from june 14 to 15, 2023. Burundi also participated in the Extraordinary Summit of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region on the matter of Peace and Security in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo and in the Republic of Sudan on june 03, 2023 in Luanda, Angola. He also participated at the highest level in the round table of African Heads of State gathered for the second edition of the Dakar Summit on the food sovereignty and Resilience in Africa “Africa Food Summit Dakar 2”, held in Senegal from january 25 to 27, 2023. Finally, at the internal level, Burundi hosted several summits and ministerial meetings and hosted more than 25 foreign delegations on the official missions in Burundi, and hosted several summits as part of the strengthening of bilateral and/or multilateral cooperation relations.

Regarding the relations with the neighboring countries, His Excellency Ambassador Albert SHINGIRO reaffirmed that Burundi attaches a great importance to the good neighborliness as one of the cardinal points of its foreign policy. During the period from january to june 2023: Burundi continued its diplomatic action with in order to normalize their relations with Rwanda. Those relations are now at a satisfactory stage.

Burundi has also contributed to the return of the peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo together with the other East African Community countries within the framework of the Nairobi Initiative and that of Luanda, both through the political process and through the deployment of a regional force to provide support to the Congolese force in order to chasing away the negative forces and the terrorists who abound in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Much progress has been made such as the holding of several consultations at the Summit, the meetings of the Heads of State of the East African Community including those held in Bujumbura on february 04, 2023 and may 31, 2023.

Regarding the strategic relations between the Government of Burundi and the diaspora as well as the promotion of migrant employment, His Excellency Ambassador Albert SHINGIRO said that several actions have been carried out, among others: the official launch of the first legal deployment of Burundian migrant workers to Saudi Arabia. Today, 472 from 11 agencies have already been sent; the continued promotion of the facilities for the members of the diaspora who wish to return permanently or invest in Burundi; monitoring the establishment of an office for issuing the travel documents for the diaspora; the continuation of the preparations for the diaspora week scheduled for august 17 to 19, 2023 in Burundi.