The EU said on Sunday it would not remove sanctions targeting longtime Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his loyalists or resume development aid until more has been done to implement a year-old power-sharing agreement and protect human rights.
Winding up the first visit by a high-level EU delegation since 2002, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Karel de Gucht said sharp differences remained between Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, the former opposition leader, over their coalition agreement.
“They do not have the same reading of the same document. They have a different reading on how this should be done and at what speed,” he told reporters at the end of a two-day visit.
PHOTO: AFP
International Cooperation Minister Gunilla Carlsson of Sweden, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said the delegation’s talks with Mugabe were “open and frank.”
But traditional ties between the 27-nation bloc and Zimbabwe, severed over the expulsion of an EU election monitoring mission in 2002 and surging political violence at the time, remained on hold.
“We still have a lot of reports of human rights violations that are unacceptable,” she said.
The EU has protested continuing arrests and harassment of members of the Movement for Democratic Change — Tsvangirai’s political party that shares power with Mugabe’s ZANU-PF.
The EU has also criticized efforts by Mugabe’s party to block the appointment of a new attorney general, regional governors and the head of Zimbabwe’s central bank.
Carlsson said the slow pace of restoring the rule of law and the implementation of democratic, constitutional and media reforms were among several concerns raised with coalition leaders.
Mugabe says international sanctions, which the EU calls “restrictive measures,” hold back progress in rebuilding the country.
The EU has imposed a European travel ban on 203 senior Zimbabwean government officials, including Mugabe.
Their assets have also been frozen in the EU, as well as those of 40 companies with links to Mugabe and ZANU-PF.
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