African and European continental parliamentarians said on Wednesday they hope their differences over Zimbabwe’s attending the European Union-Africa Summit in December will blow over.
The EU has imposed ”targeted sanctions” against Zimbabwe, including a ban on Cabinet ministers travelling from that country to Europe.
Addressing a press conference after the EU delegation’s visit, EU delegate Michael Gahler said the non-attendance of Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe at the Franco-African Summit at Cannes in February was a ”positive precedent”.
He said the EU has a firm standpoint on the matter, ”and we have a strong feeling that in Africa there are strong feelings about this”.
”[But we] hope that good services are rendered from different countries behind the scenes, and we hope that the summit is a success.”
The President of the Pan African Parliament, Gertrude Mongella, said such tensions are not new to the world. ”We hope there can be an end to the tensions we see now.”
The two parliaments said their talks this week focused on preparations for the EU-Africa Summit, which will be held in Lisbon.
It will be the first such parliamentary participation at an EU-Africa Summit.
Asked whether China would have observer status at the summit, Gahler said the topic of China’s interest in Africa would be on the agenda, directly or indirectly. ”China in Africa is an issue of great interest in Africa and beyond.” — Sapa