<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, may soon make a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to a brief press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of this African country and retweeted by the Spanish Embassy in Kinshasa.</strong></h4> The announcement was made on November 14, 2025, following a meeting between the Congolese Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, Francophonie, and Diaspora, Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, and the Spanish Ambassador to Kinshasa, Carmen Díez Orejas. According to the Congolese government's press release, "discussions focused on the excellent relations between the DRC and Spain, ahead of the Spanish Foreign Minister's upcoming visit to Kinshasa." Foreign Ministry sources contacted by <em>The Diplomat</em> were unable to confirm the news. The minister and the ambassador also discussed prospects for strengthening bilateral and multilateral cooperation, particularly in areas of common interest. According to the Congolese news agency ACP, the meeting also addressed several areas of cooperation, the strengthening of bilateral and multilateral partnerships, and the need to make progress in priority sectors: governance, the economy, security, and development. The press release from the DRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs was shared by the ambassador herself in a message on the social network X, in which she expressed her gratitude to Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner for such a fruitful meeting. If it takes place, it would be the first visit by a Spanish Foreign Minister to the Democratic Republic of Congo since Miguel Ángel Moratinos's visit in 2008. Since then, only the then Director General for Africa at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Raimundo Robredo Rubio, has traveled to the country. In June 2018, he visited Kinshasa to meet with the then Foreign Minister, Leonard She Okitundu, and other government, opposition, and civil society officials. Last weekend, Albares celebrated the signing of the Framework Agreement between the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the rebel group March 23 Movement (M23), which took place this past Sunday in Doha, the capital of Qatar, and represents "a further step towards peace and stability in the Great Lakes region."
