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EU insincere: Govt
Herald Reporters
THE European Union is not committed to re-engaging Zimbabwe in dialogue to normalise relations and lift the illegal economic sanctions the bloc imposed on the country, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi has said.
Addressing journalists after meeting the visiting Portuguese Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Antonio Braga in Harare yesterday, Minister Mumbengegwi — who heads Zimbabwe’s re-engagement committee — said the EU was not serious on dialogue.
The dialogue was scheduled to resume on April 21, but was deferred after a flight ban in Europe following a volcanic eruption in Iceland.
Since then, the EU has not made any formal communication to agree on a way forward.
"We are still waiting for the EU to indicate to us when our delegation should go there and they certainly seem to be taking their time.
"It seems to suggest to us that the EU has never taken this dialogue seriously at all.
‘‘They are just playing games with the lives of the people of Zimbabwe and I know that in international relations, morality is the first casualty," he said.
Minister Mumbengegwi recently wrote to the EU expre-ssing concern at the lack of progress.
He said the dialogue was being conducted in bad faith because Zimbabwe had received several delegations from EU members, but "surprisingly" the bloc refused to reciprocate.
"We have received a ministerial troika from the EU and several ministerial delegations from EU countries but when we want to send our delegations they refuse," he said.
Minister Mumbengegwi said the EU had refused to hear Zimbabwe’s position on the illegal sanctions following the renewal of the discredited embargo in February this year.
He said European capitals had barred a Zimbabwean delegation that sought to discuss the matter of sanctions before they were renewed for another year.
Referring to one of the few meetings between the two sides, the minister said: "We agreed in Brussels that the two sides must produce commitment plans as to what each side was committing itself to achieve in the dialogue.
"Zimbabwe has produced its commitment plan, but the EU has declined to produce theirs."
Minister Mumbengegwi said he had explained that Zimbabweans were against the continuation of the illegal sanctions and had taken a position against the embargo in the Global Political Agreement.
Mr Braga said Portugal was committed to rapprochement.
He said Zimbabwe and Portugal enjoyed cordial relations and Lisbon was exploring investment opportunities here.
"We are looking at the possibility to have some investment here and we have also discussed issues relating to our bilateral relations."
Mr Braga faces a daunting task in convincing hardliners in the EU on the need for re-engagement.
This became immediately obvious after his meeting with Minister Mumbengegwi when a visiting Danish parliamentary delegation insisted there were no sanctions on Zimbabwe.
The 10-member delegation from the Danish Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs met Minister Mumbengegwi in Harare yesterday.
Head of delegation Mrs Marian Pederson held an hour-long meeting with Minister Mumbengegwi and claimed the sanctions only targeted individuals.
Minister Mumbengegwi said: "It was a frank exchange of views, but unfortunately we were hoping that their coming to this country would change their perception.
"I get the impression that they are going back with the same impression which they had.
"They still believe that there are no sanctions in Zimbabwe. I told them that the top 31 companies are under sanctions imposed to cripple Zimbabwe.
"I pointed out that the complete withdrawal of aid to Zimbabwe is not a sanction to individuals, but to the general people of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe used to benefit from lines of credit but all that was withdrawn."
Minister Mumbengegwi expressed surprise that the legislators were misinformed on the land reform programme.
"It is unreasonable for Zimbabwe to pay compensation for land that was taken by the British at gunpoint. It is the British government that should pay compensation and that is there in our Constitution, we will pay compensation on improvements."
Mrs Pederson confirmed they had failed to agree.
"We didn’t manage to discuss other issues because we still felt that you are not following the rules," she said.
Yesterday, the European Commission delegation in Zimbabwe did not respond to questions sent to it on the issue of re-engagement.
Dialogue was initiated last year but little headway has
been made to break the impasse.
At one point the French Embassy in Harare, which is responsible for issuing Belgian visas in Zimbabwe, denied Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa a visa to travel to Brussels.
The situation was only resolved after EC head of delegation in Zimbabwe Ambassador Xavier Marchal’s intervention.
Minister Chinamasa was subsequently detained for about seven hours at Frankfurt International Airport in what was seen as a crude attempt to stop him from attending meetings in Brussels.
Other members of Zimbabwe’s re-engagement team are ministers Tendai Biti (Finance), Elton Mangoma (Economic Planning and Investment Promotion), Pricilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga (Regional Integration and International Co-operation) and Welshman Ncube (Industry and Commerce.)
A 2006 study of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement — under which the EU says the sanctions are justified — the bloc admitted the embargo was implemented in an attempt to influence the 2002 Presidential elections eventually won by President Mugabe. |
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