According to Club of Mozambique, an official source from the European Commission said on Friday that the existing agreement under the European Peace Facility expires in May 2026 after the EU disbursed €40 million in support of Rwanda’s military mission in northern Mozambique.

“The European Union has not received any formal request for additional assistance from the Rwandan authorities,” the EU official stated, while also acknowledging Rwanda’s contribution to stabilising Cabo Delgado.

The statement comes days after Rwanda announced that its forces would remain in Cabo Delgado to continue fighting insurgent groups linked to the Islamic State organization, despite uncertainty surrounding future EU funding.

Rwanda first deployed troops to northern Mozambique in 2021 at the request of the Mozambican government after insurgents seized key towns and threatened major gas projects in the region. Since then, Rwandan forces have been credited with helping restore security in several strategic areas.

Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Olivier Nduhungirehe, criticised what he described as reluctance within the EU to renew financial support for the mission.

“Regrettably, we have noted that the two requests by the Government of Rwanda to Brussels were received with reluctance and were politicised by some EU member States,” Nduhungirehe said, adding that support for Mozambique’s security had been turned into “irrational criticism against Rwanda.”

More than 6,300 troops are currently deployed in Cabo Delgado, nearly three times the size of the initial force sent in 2021.

Earlier this week, Nduhungirehe also announced that Mozambique had secured alternative funding to ensure the continuation of the Rwandan mission. “Rwanda decided to deal exclusively with the Government of Mozambique, which, in its turn, has secured and will continue to secure the necessary funding for the Rwandan security forces in Cabo Delgado,” he wrote on X.

The EU assistance programme included non-lethal military equipment and transport support for Rwandan troops operating alongside the Mozambican Armed Forces.

The debate over funding comes at a sensitive time for Rwanda, following sanctions imposed by the United States on the Rwanda Defence Force over the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.