Today, Belgium and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) reached an agreement on the reopening of Schengen House (maison Schengen / Schengenhuis) in Kinshasa. This is also good news for Brussels Airlines as the Belgian airline is allowed again to operate daily flights between both capitals.
The agreement was signed in Kinshasa by a representative of brand new president Félix Tshisekedi and Belgian Diplomat Philippe Bronchain.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders tweeted that he welcomes the agreement. According to him, it is a first step towards the normalisation of bilateral relations between Brussels and Kinshasa, which have been in crisis for more than a year.
Also on Friday, the Congolese civil aviation authorities allowed Brussels Airlines to gradually reinstate its daily flight to Kinshasa. After the diplomatic crisis in February last year, the Congolese civil aviation authorities reduced the daily Brussels Airlines flight to Kinshasa to only 4 flights per week.
Je salue l’accord permettant la réouverture de la #MaisonSchengen à Kinshasa. Un premier pas positif pour reprendre les échanges entre #UE & #RDC au bénéfice de la population congolaise qui attend le changement & l’ouverture #Elykia@eu_eeas pic.twitter.com/uzVy6IwGjr
— didier reynders (@dreynders) February 22, 2019
