Is France going out of its way to be difficult? next thing you know they will bring Idi Amin out of retirement and make him the cultural attache for Europe.
France forces fudge on Mugabe sanctions
Ian Black in Brussels and Michael White
Thursday February 13, 2003
The Guardian
European Union governments last night renewed a travel ban on Robert Mugabe and his top officials but gave the green light to the Zimbabwean leader to attend a summit in Paris.
Ambassadors meeting in Brussels ended weeks of disarray by agreeing that the "smart" sanctions imposed on Harare's senior leadership would be extended for a year.
The deal was condemned as "a kick in the teeth for the suffering people of Zimbabwe" by the shadow foreign secretary, Michael Ancram, and by Labour MPs and MEPs.
"The messages to Zimbabwe have to be very clear and this is a very muddy deal," said Ann Clwyd MP. Glenys Kinnock MEP, who will today launch a plan to stop Zimbabwe sliding further into chaos, condemned the regime's "violence, intimidation and torture".
Yet the EU's decision came a day after Nigeria and South Africa urged an end to Commonwealth sanctions against Zimbabwe, claiming progress has been made towards restoring democratic standards.
The envoys failed to decide whether to postpone a planned EU-Africa summit in Lisbon, scheduled for April, after threats from Britain and others that it would be boycotted if the Zimbabwean president attended.
Diplomats said a final decision will be made tomorrow. But the row is likely to deepen tensions over EU foreign policy, which is already strained by disarray over Iraq.
It took four meetings in as many weeks for the union to get its act together in the face of insistence by President Jacques Chirac that Mr Mugabe attend a Franco-African summit next week.
France had made clear it would not support the extension of the measures if it was prevented from holding its summit. This led to a row between Britain and France, with Mr Chirac telling an angry Tony Blair that engagement was more effective than sanctions.
The measures ban travel to Europe by top Zimbabweans, as well as freezing their assets and maintaining an embargo on weapons that might be used for internal repression.
The ambassadors of Britain and several other countries insisted on registering their objections to the temporary French "opt-out". This will enable Mr Mugabe to visit Paris - a development seen as making a mockery of the sanctions regime and the EU's claim to have a common foreign policy.
As he left for a trip to China last night to discuss North Korea, Mr Ancram called the deal proof of "double standards adopted about human rights in Zimbabwe by the EU. It is a cynical stitch-up which the British government should have resisted from the start and made clear we would have no part in".
Future exceptions to sanctions, such as attendance at international conferences, will have to be approved by majority vote.
The move follows the protracted wrangling involving England's cricketers and the International Cricket Council over their first World Cup match in Harare.
Zimbabwean opposition groups have protested that any avenue granted to Mugabe to attend international meetings at which he is treated as a statesman is "an affront to the feelings of the people of Zimbabwe".
The EU imposed the measures last year, accusing Mr Mugabe of rigging elections, fomenting violence against political opponents and trampling over human rights.
The decision quickly came under fire. "The EU is being pathetic and sending entirely the wrong message both to Mugabe and the suffering millions in Zimbabwe," said the Tory MEP Geoffrey Van Orden.
"What we now have is sanc tions à la carte, with an exemption for Mugabe."
Mrs Kinnock said:"Now is the time to start taking a serious look at how we strengthen sanctions and do the opposite of what African leaders are contemplating."
France forces fudge on Mugabe sanctions
Ian Black in Brussels and Michael White
Thursday February 13, 2003
The Guardian
European Union governments last night renewed a travel ban on Robert Mugabe and his top officials but gave the green light to the Zimbabwean leader to attend a summit in Paris.
Ambassadors meeting in Brussels ended weeks of disarray by agreeing that the "smart" sanctions imposed on Harare's senior leadership would be extended for a year.
The deal was condemned as "a kick in the teeth for the suffering people of Zimbabwe" by the shadow foreign secretary, Michael Ancram, and by Labour MPs and MEPs.
"The messages to Zimbabwe have to be very clear and this is a very muddy deal," said Ann Clwyd MP. Glenys Kinnock MEP, who will today launch a plan to stop Zimbabwe sliding further into chaos, condemned the regime's "violence, intimidation and torture".
Yet the EU's decision came a day after Nigeria and South Africa urged an end to Commonwealth sanctions against Zimbabwe, claiming progress has been made towards restoring democratic standards.
The envoys failed to decide whether to postpone a planned EU-Africa summit in Lisbon, scheduled for April, after threats from Britain and others that it would be boycotted if the Zimbabwean president attended.
Diplomats said a final decision will be made tomorrow. But the row is likely to deepen tensions over EU foreign policy, which is already strained by disarray over Iraq.
It took four meetings in as many weeks for the union to get its act together in the face of insistence by President Jacques Chirac that Mr Mugabe attend a Franco-African summit next week.
France had made clear it would not support the extension of the measures if it was prevented from holding its summit. This led to a row between Britain and France, with Mr Chirac telling an angry Tony Blair that engagement was more effective than sanctions.
The measures ban travel to Europe by top Zimbabweans, as well as freezing their assets and maintaining an embargo on weapons that might be used for internal repression.
The ambassadors of Britain and several other countries insisted on registering their objections to the temporary French "opt-out". This will enable Mr Mugabe to visit Paris - a development seen as making a mockery of the sanctions regime and the EU's claim to have a common foreign policy.
As he left for a trip to China last night to discuss North Korea, Mr Ancram called the deal proof of "double standards adopted about human rights in Zimbabwe by the EU. It is a cynical stitch-up which the British government should have resisted from the start and made clear we would have no part in".
Future exceptions to sanctions, such as attendance at international conferences, will have to be approved by majority vote.
The move follows the protracted wrangling involving England's cricketers and the International Cricket Council over their first World Cup match in Harare.
Zimbabwean opposition groups have protested that any avenue granted to Mugabe to attend international meetings at which he is treated as a statesman is "an affront to the feelings of the people of Zimbabwe".
The EU imposed the measures last year, accusing Mr Mugabe of rigging elections, fomenting violence against political opponents and trampling over human rights.
The decision quickly came under fire. "The EU is being pathetic and sending entirely the wrong message both to Mugabe and the suffering millions in Zimbabwe," said the Tory MEP Geoffrey Van Orden.
"What we now have is sanc tions à la carte, with an exemption for Mugabe."
Mrs Kinnock said:"Now is the time to start taking a serious look at how we strengthen sanctions and do the opposite of what African leaders are contemplating."
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