Africa cannot stop the European Union if it wants to discuss the issue of Zimbabwe during the weekend’s European Union (EU)-African summit in Lisbon, Portugal, South African Foreign Affairs Deputy Director General Gert Grobler said on Wednesday.
Speaking to the media at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, he said Zimbabwe was not part of the agreed agenda between the two groups.
”I don’t think Africa can stop Europe if they decide to raise under that particular theme [governance and human rights] the issue of Zimbabwe,” Grobler said.
”South Africa and Africa would want this summit to focus on the substance of expanding the strategic partnership between the continents — that must be the key focus. It is on that issue that we want tangible outcomes,” he said.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is staying away from the Lisbon summit because Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe plans to attend.
Officials from host Portugal and Spain are among those who said they would prefer Mugabe to stay home, so as not to divert attention from the economic and political issues on the agenda.
But host Portugal bowed to the African Union’s wish that leaders of all its members be invited.
Grobler said he hoped attention would be on the political issues which would focus on peace and security, human rights, good governance, trade and development and climate change.
”Our hope is that we will come away from this summit, not only with a common vision, but with a tangible plan of action,” he said.
President Thabo Mbeki will lead the South African delegation to the summit.
Mugabe sees ‘new dawn’
Meanwhile, Mugabe said Brown had lost the stand-off over who would attend the summit.
In his annual State of the Nation address, Mugabe said Zimbabwe, suffering chronic shortages of basic goods and worsening power failures and water shortages, continued to defy predictions of economic collapse and social upheaval.
He said the nation had in the past year moved toward what he termed ”sustained economic recovery notwithstanding the suffering endured by many of our people”.
”The sinister campaign by Britain to isolate us continues to disintegrate. I wish to thank European Union and African countries for their support and I thank Portugal for their corrected reading of the situation,” Mugabe told lawmakers in the Harare Parliament in the nationwide address broadcast by state television and radio.
In Harare on Tuesday, Mugabe blamed his country’s economic woes on successive drought, Western economic measures against Zimbabwe and profiteering at home.
”The night of trials and tribulations has undeniably been long. We are, however, confident a new dawn is on the horizon,” Mugabe said. – Sapa