President Paul Kagame on Saturday 6 April 2024 received in Urugwiro Village his counterpart from the Czech Republic, General Petr Pavel, who is in Rwanda for a three-day visit.
The information published by Village Urugwiro on their X wall says that President Kagame and President Pavel held discussions focused on the relations between the two countries. They discussed the steps in the development of bilateral cooperation between Rwanda and the Czech Republic,
in the context of the interests of both countries in various sectors including security, health, trade, investment and technology, After the talks, the two of them had an interview with the media that focused on the relationship between the two countries and the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsis.
President Kagame praised his Czech counterpart, General Petr Pavel, who agreed to join Rwanda in the 30th commemoration.
He said, “This tradition of working together and speaking out against injustice, creates a bond of love and mutual respect.”
President Kagame said that the international community has learned nothing from the Genocide against the Tutsis that took place in Rwanda 30 years ago.
He said, “We see a lot of mistakes being made, all over the place, we have conflicts, we lose a lot of people, it leads to the collapse of business activities, more than that people lose their lives.
President Kagame continued by saying, “If a lesson has been learned, there are things you can look at and say, but this incident could have been prevented, or it should have been stopped and started again, if there is a willingness to look at things, see the root of the problem, or solve it.”
The President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, said that his country and Rwanda have regular relations and cooperation in various fields, including military and security, health, infrastructure and others.
He said, “And we are ready to receive them with good will by opening other sectors to work with. I think that the cooperation between Rwanda and the Czech Republic has mutual benefits for both sides.”
President Petr Pavel said that what happened in Rwanda has not left a lesson for many, saying that there are signs that there is progress being made in some countries.
He said, “We saw that in the last United Nations meetings, various countries in Africa, the United States and Europe agreed on certain principles, which is encouraging.”
The President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, said that his country will continue to strive to put effort into the campaign for the unity of the countries and to stand together to prevent them so that what happened in Rwanda during the Genocide against the Tutsis in 1994 will not happen again.
The President of the Czech Republic, Peter Pavel, who is in Rwanda on his first visit, arrived in Kigali on Thursday evening, April 5, 2024. Arriving at the Kigali International Airport in Kanombe, he was received by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Vincent Biruta.
During his visit, President Pavel plans to hold talks with the people of his country in Rwanda, The two countries in 2023, both sides signed a double taxation agreement in order to promote trade and investment between Rwanda and the Czech Republic.
President Petr Pavel has been leading the Czech Republic since March 2023. Before becoming the Head of State, he was the Chairman of the Military Committee of the European-American Defense Organization (NATO) in 2015-2018 and also the Commander-in-Chief of the ‘The Czech Army between 2012-2015.
