Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-04-07-Speech-4-404-000"
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"en.20110407.24.4-404-000"2
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". – Mr President, I think we would all agree that Zimbabwe and its human rights violations have been on our agenda for far too long. Every glimpse of hope of some positive development is immediately crushed by outbursts of political repression and violence. This is exactly what happened again just a couple of months ago. The European Union therefore had to proceed to renew its restrictive measures, for the eighth time, in February this year.
By this clear gesture, we wanted to underline the critical importance of an agreement between the government parties on the necessary steps leading to elections in the country. In this context, the EU emphasised its willingness to revise its decision in response to further concrete developments on the ground.
The EU is deeply concerned at the upsurge in political violence seen in recent months in Zimbabwe. On 11 March, together with 21 embassies and representations, the EU issued a statement to express its concerns over the increase in what appears to be politically motivated intimidation and violence.
In this context, the EU welcomes the outcome of the recent SADC summit on 31 March 2011. The SADC communiqué calls for an immediate end to violence, intimidation, hate speech and harassment, and calls upon the government of Zimbabwe to complete all necessary steps to hold an election. It offers assistance so that elections can be organised in accordance with SADC principles and guidelines governing democratic elections. For that reason, the SADC will appoint officials to join the South African facilitation team and work with the joint monitoring and implementation committee.
The EU believes that strengthened facilitation and mediation efforts by SADC and South Africa are key to preventing further instability in Zimbabwe. The EU welcomes the region’s efforts to mediate in the Zimbabwean crisis.
South Africa, in its capacity as facilitator, together with the SADC, as guarantor of the Global Political Agreement, has decided to accredit the Zimbabwean Ambassador. At this point in time, keeping a formal channel of communication open with Zimbabwe and maintaining a dialogue with the inclusive government is vital, and we should not jeopardise the position of the EU Ambassador in Harare. The EU will act and proceed in close coordination with all EU Member States.
The EU remains the largest provider of development assistance to Zimbabwe. We want to clearly express that we are tough on the regime, but we try to assist the people. With the disbursement of approximately 365 million since the establishment of the Global Political Agreement in 2009, we are – as I said – the largest donor.
Resources are only channelled through UN bodies and specialised NGOs. Since 2009, the EU has also supported governance reforms, as stipulated in the Global Political Agreement, including the constitutional reform process. The EU also funds human rights programmes, including programmes from human rights defenders. We just have to hope that all the international pressure will finally lead to free and fair elections in Zimbabwe and to the gradual normalisation of the very difficult situation in this country."@en1
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