Filip Reyntjens — jurist, professor, Human Rights Watch agent, and man pathologically obsessed with Rwanda.

Strangely, the decision to cancel was taken after an intervention from the cabinet of Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot, who in recent months, within the Belgian government, has multiplied hostile gestures toward Rwanda.

Although Rwanda had absolutely nothing to do with this cancellation, that did not prevent Reyntjens from once again launching an unjustified attack on President Kagame, claiming that this would only reinforce Kagame’s belief that he can “punch above his weight.” The irony is obvious : except for Reyntjens and his few disciples, everyone — all Rwandans, the great leaders of this world, and all people of good faith — already recognize that Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda, is without question a statesman in a category of his own.

According to the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the book presentation was cancelled simply because “it was taking place in the very sensitive context of a break in diplomatic relations with Rwanda.”

“Given the ties between the Foreign Ministry and the Egmont Institute, and taking into account the tensions between Professor Reyntjens and the Rwandan authorities, the event could have been interpreted as an unfriendly gesture by Belgium towards Rwanda,” the cabinet explained in a written statement. “This is absolutely not Belgium’s intention, as it would once again have unjustly fueled Rwanda’s criticisms of Belgium.”

What the cabinet failed to add is that nothing useful, nothing credible can ever come from Reyntjens about Rwanda. He is consumed by hatred for the country’s current leadership and surrounds himself with opponents of every stripe and with “ génocidaires” — people for whom he has been either advisor in Rwanda or professor and protector in Belgium — who fled Rwanda and dedicate their lives to manufacturing lies against the government. Denied any real access to Rwanda, Reyntjens has no choice but to invent “facts” and produce biased analysis, his only purpose being to harm.

But while the dogs bark, Rwanda marches forward. The country silences all these fabricators through the undeniable proof of its achievements — countless successes in the socio-economic development of its citizens. And in the face of this, Professor Reyntjens remains hopelessly off-topic.

Rwanda broke diplomatic relations with Belgium in March, accusing Brussels of “pathetic attempts to maintain its neocolonial illusions.” And indeed, this is exactly what Filip Reyntjens embodies : Rwanda has become his unhealthy fixation, his incurable obsession. He has never managed to cut the umbilical cord with this ancient nation, this thousand-year-old state, which Belgium — a young nation still struggling to define itself — once imagined it could keep as a vassal in Central Africa.

It is long past time for Belgium to accept reality and to rethink its relations with Rwanda — a sovereign nation for millennia, with a deep history, a rich culture, and a modern political vision that allows it to stand confidently among the nations of the world. Rwanda has already proven this time and again, and can even serve as a model for certain countries in the Northern Hemisphere.