(3-minute read)
· EU lifts financial sanctions imposed on Burundi since 2016
· The European Union has recently lifted its sanctions against Burundi, one year after President Évariste Ndayishimiye came to power
· The EU had suspended financial cooperation between the European Union and Burundi in 2016, when citizens protested former President Pierre Nkurunziza’s bid for a third term, violating constitutional norms
The European Union has recently lifted its sanctions against Burundi, one year after President Évariste Ndayishimiye came to power. The EU had suspended financial cooperation between the European Union and Burundi in 2016, when citizens protested former President Pierre Nkurunziza’s bid for a third term, violating constitutional norms.
The lifting of sanctions has been welcomed. The President of the National Observatory for the Prevention and Eradication of Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity described the lifting of sanctions as a major development and expressed hope that this process would lead to an effective resumption of cooperation. Since the 2020 elections, many consider that Burundi has entered a new era of openness, warming relations, and resumed cooperation.
The head of the EU delegation to Burundi announced that a process to lift the sanctions imposed on Burundi in 2016 was already underway during their meeting with the President of the Republic, Évariste Ndayishimiye. An immediate benefit of the sanctions being lifted is that European aid can be used for the rehabilitation of the Port of Bujumbura, in partnership with the African Development Bank.