WATCH: Belgian King acknowledges colonial occupation in DRC was racist, but mum over reparations

Belgium’s King Philippe conveyed his “deepest regrets” to the Democratic Republic of Congo for the “wounds of the past” caused by his country in an address to government officials and parliamentarians on Wednesday in the capital Kinshasa. Picture: Denis Closon/EPA

Belgium’s King Philippe conveyed his “deepest regrets” to the Democratic Republic of Congo for the “wounds of the past” caused by his country in an address to government officials and parliamentarians on Wednesday in the capital Kinshasa. Picture: Denis Closon/EPA

Published Jun 9, 2022

Share

Cape Town - Belgium’s King Philippe conveyed his “deepest regrets” to the Democratic Republic of Congo for the “wounds of the past” caused by his country in an address to government officials and parliamentarians on Wednesday in the capital Kinshasa.

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) June 8, 2022

Short of an apology, the Belgian King and his government is seeking to write a new chapter in relations with the former colony.

The Central African nation acquired independence from Belgium in 1960.

According to the Brussels Times, the speech in front of the Congolese parliament was the most eagerly awaited part of the week-long state visit by King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, on his maiden visit to the central African country.

"This regime was one of unequal relations, unjustifiable in itself, marked by paternalism, discrimination and racism," he said.

King Philippe is on a week-long visit to DR Congo at the invitation of President Félix Tshisekedi, according to the Congolese presidency.

Further to this, King Philippe said that colonialism gave rise to abuses and humiliations.

“On the occasion of my first trip to the Congo, here in the face of the Congolese people and those who still suffer today, I wish to reaffirm my deepest regret for these wounds of the past,” he said.

Belgium’s colonisation as the Belgian Congo has been described by historians as one of the harshest European rules in Africa in the late 19th and 20th centuries, for which Philippe in 2020 wrote a letter to President Tshisekedi, expressing his "deepest regrets" for the "wounds of the past."

IOL