EU's foreign policy on Zimbabwe needs updating

The fallout from statements by the European Union (EU)'s Ambassador to Zimbabwe Aldo Dell'Ariccia suggesting there is no leadership crisis in Zimbabwe and criticising civil society for being allegedly "anchored in the past" raises questions whether the EU still has a foreign policy on Zimbabwe and if so, which one is the ambassador implementing?

In an address to a workshop organised by Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition held in Harare on June 17, Dell 'Ariccia rejected opposition claims that Zimbabwe was in the throes of a major leadership crisis.

The EU's top envoy insisted the 90-year-old leader President Robert Mugabe was "very much in control" of the struggling country.

The ambassador argued there would be chaos in the country if there was a leadership vacuum as alleged by Mugabe's critics.

Despite clarifying that he made the statements as a political analyst, not in his capacity as EU ambassador, the envoy's comments touched a raw nerve in civil society, academic circles within Zimbabwe and in the diaspora.

Analysts angrily tore into Dell 'Ariccia's "undiplomatic", "disrespectful", "dishonest" and "provocative" statements.