A delegation from the Belgian Ministry of Defence led by Maj Gen Boucké, Chief of Staff of the Strategy Department visited the Rwanda Defence Force and held talks during which the two sides agreed to further enhance military cooperation, an official source disclosed in Kigali on Thursday.
The current talks tackled different aspects of cooperation including medical, engineering, training, peace support operation and logistics.
Both parties expressed their satisfaction and confirmed their common interests and opportunities were mutually identified, it said.
According to the Director General of Policy and Strategy at Rwanda’s Ministry of Defence, Maj. Gen. Ferdinand Safari, the meeting was in line with the two Memorandum of Understanding signed in April and August 2004 between Belgium and Rwanda.
Currently the military cooperation between the Rwanda and Belgium armed forces is focusing mainly on education basis.
The Belgian Royal Military Academy has been training the Rwanda Defence forces with close to 100 Rwandan soldiers having passed through the school.
École Royale Militaire Belge offers conventional courses, military courses and cadet trainings.
In April this year, the former Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Patrick Nyamvumba met the Belgian Armed Forces Chief of Defence (CHOD), General Marc Campernol and his delegation in Kigali.
General Campernol together with the Belgian Land Component Commander, Lt Gen Marc Thys and the Special Force Commander, Col Vincent Descheemaeker were in Rwanda as part of commemorating the 25th anniversary of the genocide.
Prior to that, the Belgian delegation led by Prime Minister Charles Michel paid a tribute to the ten Belgian peacekeepers killed during the genocide in 1994 at former Camp Kigali where a memorial was built in their names.
CU/as/APA