The monarch’s visit to the DRC comes two years after he apologized for atrocities committed during Belgium’s brutal colonial era. The six-day trip has been billed as a chance for reconciliation between the two countries.
Belgium’s King Philippe arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Tuesday on his first visit to the former colony as monarch.
The six-day trip has been hailed as “historic” and an opportunity for the two countries to forge closer ties.
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi greeted Philippe and his wife, Queen Mathilde, on a red carpet at the international airport in the capital, Kinshasa.
The royal couple was also accompanied by Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and other members of cabinet.
The visit to the impoverished Central African country comes two years after Philippe offered a landmark apology for the “wounds of the past” and crimes committed under Belgium’s colonial rule
What is on the king’s agenda?
According to the Congolese government, the Belgian delegation was to meet President Tshisekedi to discuss the colonial past as well as current political relations.
Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya told reporters ahead of the visit that Belgium and the DRC were starting a “new partnership.”
“We are not forgetting the past, we are looking to the future,” he said.
De Croo told Belgian media the visit marked “a historic moment.”
Philippe is due to hold a ceremony with Tshisekedi at the Congolese Parliament in Kinshasa on Wednesday.
On Friday, he is scheduled to deliver a speech to university students in the southern city of Lubumbashi.
The Belgian sovereign will then travel to the country’s east to visit the clinic of gynaecologist Denis Mukwege, who was joint-winner of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for his fight against sexual violence. The 65-year-old is considered the world’s leading expert in the treatment of gang rape injuries.
Brutal colonial past
Historians estimate that millions of people died from disease or exploitation during Belgium’s colonization of the Congo.
King Leopold II — the brother of Philippe’s great great grandfather — brutally ruled what is now DRC as his personal property between 1885 and 1908. During this time, his colonial military unit forced the local population to collect rubber.
In 1908, his so-called Congo Free State became a colony known as the Belgian Congo.
It remained part of the Belgian empire until gaining independence on June 30, 1960.
This week’s visit is Philippe’s first to the DRC since he became king in 2013. His father, King Albert II, visited in 2010 on the 50th anniversary of the country’s independence.
Philippe had planned to visit for the 60th anniversary in 2020, but the trip was canceled due to the COVID pandemic.
(AFP, dpa)