(3 minutes read)
· EU lifts financial sanctions imposed on Burundi since 2016
· The European Union had lifted its sanctions against Burundi recently and is coming one year after President Evariste Ndayishimiye coming to power
· The EU had suspended the financial cooperation between the European Union and Burundi in 2016, when citizens protested against former president Pierre Nkurunziza’s candidacy to a third mandate, violating the Constitutional norms
The European Union had lifted its sanctions against Burundi recently and is coming one year after President Evariste Ndayishimiye coming to power. The EU had suspended the financial cooperation between the European Union and Burundi in 2016, when citizens protested against former president Pierre Nkurunziza’s candidacy for a third mandate, violating the Constitutional norms.
People across the board have welcomed the lifting of the sanctions. Jean Dieu Mutabazi, president of the National Observatory for the Prevention and Eradication of Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity termed the lifting of sanctions as a great development and hoped that the process would lead to effective resumption of cooperation. Since the 2020 elections, many maintain that Burundi has entered a new era of openness, warming relations and resuming
cooperation.
The head of the EU delegation in Burundi announced that a process to lift the sanctions imposed on Burundi in 2016 is already underway during their meeting with President of the Republic Évariste Ndayishimiye. At the same time, there are people and organizations, who are cautioning against the lifting of sanctions mentioning that the human rights situation in the country is poor. One immediate benefit of the lifting of sanctions is that the European aid can be tapped for rehabilitation of the port of Bujumbura, in partnership with the African Development Bank
