Hand over 2015 coup plotters to us to further improve our ties, Burundi tells Rwanda.  

Rwanda-Burundi ties would improve when coup plotters from 2015, who are believed to be hiding in Kigali, are given over to Gitega to face justice, according to Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye.

President Ndayishimiye said last Tuesday at State House in Bujumbura that Burundi is already in negotiations with Rwandan authorities to improve relations between the two nations, which deteriorated seven years ago.

“We have had extensive discussions with Rwanda.” They are and will always be our neighbors,” President Ndayishimiye said.

“We know Burundians and Rwandans do not detest one other… “I saw a number of Rwandans over the weekend in Bujumbura, and some of them were married to Burundians,” the president added.

For the previous seven years, the two nations have had strained ties, with Burundi shutting its borders with Rwanda and prohibiting the supply of fruits and vegetables to Kigali beginning in 2016.

However, ties between the two nations have improved dramatically since President Ndayishimiye assumed office in 2020.

High-level delegations from both nations have met multiple times in an attempt to improve ties, including intelligence chiefs, governors, and other senior government officials.

“When there is a conflict, both nations send envoys, and we discuss, it’s a fantastic accomplishment, and I hope we will continue to do so.” “One day, Rwanda will give them over, and the matter will be solved,” declared the president.

Rwandan Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente visited Bujumbura during the Independence Day festivities last July. This was the first visit to Burundi by a high-ranking Rwandan politician since the country’s political crisis started in 2015.

Burundi said last year that important initiatives had been done to promote regional peace and security. Burundi assisted Rwanda when militants preparing an assault on Kigali were apprehended and turned up to Rwanda twice.

Rwanda retaliated in July by handing over 19 armed men who had carried out an assault in Burundi and fled to Rwanda.