I think King Baudouin was not dissatisfied with the disappearance of the man who broke off the 80-year-old relations between Belgium and Congo. - Mark Eyskens

Europe is an economic giant, a political dwarf, and a military worm.

Governments of developing countries sometimes proposed projects that did not directly benefit the population, but did benefit the government; the so-called 'white elephants'. For example, they wanted to build highways and build large buildings, while we thought it was better to focus on good education.

It is difficult to stop aid for human rights violations without the population suffering. That is why we continued to offer help through reliable NGOs. Preference was given to Belgian NGOs, because the domestic NGOs were often under the influence of the Congolese government. The importance of human rights has only increased, partly due to the introduction of the International Criminal Court, which tackles violations of human rights.