| Author (Person) | Bower, Helen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Publisher | ProQuest Information and Learning | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Title | In Focus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Details | 26.2.03 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publication Date | 26/02/2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content Type | News, Overview, Topic Guide | In Focus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Zimbabwean leader, President Robert Mugabe, joined representatives from 52 African countries in Paris on 20 February 2003 for the Franco-African summit after EU leaders agreed to French demands to make an exception to an EU travel ban on Mugabe and other senior Zimbabwean officials in return for an extension of EU economic and travel sanctions, which were due to expire on 18 February 2003. The presence of the Zimbabwean leader at the Paris summit had been opposed by many EU Member States, particularly the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Sweden, because of doubts over the legitimacy of Mugabe's re-election in 2002 and widespread reports of serious human rights violations. As a result, the European Union agreed in February 2002 to impose sanctions on President Mugabe and a total of 72 people closely linked to the President, including a travel ban and the freezing of assets. The United States also imposed similar sanctions following Mugabe's re-election. However, France argued that an exception to the ban should be made because the focus of the meeting was on human rights and democracy and it feared that other African nations would boycott the meeting if Zimbabwe was not invited. In Zimbabwe itself, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) condemned the French invitation to Zimbabwe. According to the BBC, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai said:
After more than a month of wrangling between European leaders, a compromise was finally devised by Brussels diplomats on 13 February 2002 and given the seal of official approval by finance ministers at a meeting of the Ecofin Council on 18 February 2002. EU leaders agreed that the travel ban could be lifted to allow Robert Mugabe to attend the Paris summit because the conduct of a political dialogue that promotes democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Zimbabwe were seen as justifiable reasons. However, the Council agreed to extend Common Position 2002/145/CFSP and Regulation 310/2002, which impose targeted sanctions against Zimbabwe, until 20 February 2004. The main sanctions are:
In addition, the leaders also agreed to amend the Common Position so that any future exemptions to the travel ban may be granted by qualified majority voting rather than unanimity. The extension of sanctions on Zimbabwe has also led to the EU postponing its annual EU-Africa summit which was due to take place in Lisbon in April 2003. The European Union had hoped that some African countries would support their efforts to politically isolate President Mugabe, however many African countries said that they would boycott the meeting if Zimbabwe was not invited. The EU therefore decided that it would be in the best interest of EU-Africa relations to delay the summit since 'it would not be possible to achieve the broadest participation at the highest level'. The disagreements between EU Member States over the Zimbabwe issue have illustrated once again the weakness of the EU's foreign policy and the inability of the Union to speak with one voice on foreign affairs. Coming at a time when the EU appears in disarray over how to handle a possible attack on Iraq, the arguments over Zimbabwe have highlighted that the EU is still a long way off delivering its Common Foreign and Security Policy and further emphasised the important role of France in EU affairs.
Helen Bower Compiled: Wednesday, 26 February 2003 The Zimbabwean leader, President Robert Mugabe, joined representatives from 52 African countries in Paris on 20 February 2003 for the Franco-African summit after EU leaders agreed to French demands to make an exception to an EU travel ban on Mugabe. |
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| Countries / Regions | Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
