(NEWZIMBABWE) Top EU officials to visit Zimbabwe
Top EU officials to visit Zimbabweby Bate Felix
10/09/2009 00:00:00
A TOP-LEVEL European Union delegation will visit Zimbabwe from September 12-13 for meetings with government leaders, the first such talks in seven years, in a bid to restore aid and cooperation with the Southern African state.
THE visit by EU Aid and Development Commissioner, Belgian Karel De Gucht, and the Swedish EU presidency, is the first since the European Union imposed sanctions in 2002 against President Robert Mugabe's government over accusations of election fraud and human rights violations.
The delegation is expected to hold talks with all parties including Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutumbara, the EU's executive European Commission said in a statement.
The visit follows a call by southern African heads of state to the international community to end sanctions on the impoverished country, which is buckling under the strain of a near economic meltdown.
But an EU official said the mission was intended to relaunch political dialogue and engagement between the 27-country bloc and Zimbabwe, not to lift the sanctions immediately.
"The joint EU mission aims to underline the urgent need for Zimbabwe's unity government to fully implement the Global Political Agreement (GPA) in order for the EU to fully re-engage and restore its cooperation," the Commission statement said. - Reuters
posted by MrK @ 2:43 AM
1 Comments:
Good to hear something is going on in attempt to re-engage and restore the cooperation as well as to relaunch political dialogue and engagement between the 27-country bloc and Zimbabwe. elli
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