News / National
'Zimbabwe wants bilateral faith from EU'
16 Feb 2015 at 14:19hrs | Views
The signing of the European Union (EU) assistance to Zimbabwe is a step towards improvement of EU-Zimbabwe diplomatic relations but Zimbabwe wants bilateral faith from the trading bloc.
In the context of the development aid just handed over to Zimbabwe, Brussels is talking about turning over a new leaf but Harare says this is no historic moment as long as the sanctions against President Robert Mugabe remain in force.
It is not just about the aid and other packages that Zimbabwe is demanding, but also bilateral faith that goes beyond a little political rhetoric.
The development aid might have been handed over for now, but Finance Minister, Patrick Chinamasa wants to see sanctions against President Mugabe removed without any preconditions.
"As long as the EU maintains sanctions against President Mugabe, who is the CEO of Zimbabwe, there can be no meaningful progress. Normalisation of relations cannot ignore that fact which is important to Zimbabwe," he said.
However, the EU is still failing to give satisfactory answers.
"I don't have much to say at the moment. The EU council will look into it as we have a re-engagement process which we feel is going on well," said EU Head of Delegation, Ambassador Phillipe Van Damme.
While Europe has been fighting futile wars against Zimbabwe, the enterprising Russians and Chinese have been striking lucrative deals with the southern African country.
Ironically referring to the two economic global giants as competitors, Ambassador Van Damme said the bloc is not scared.
"We are not scared, all we want is a level playing field from our competitors. The global economy is not about the EU only, it is a world economy," he said.
With the complications of re-engagement, Zimbabwe has taken its deals to other nations while Brussels was taking the fight into its territory.
Perhaps while it is becoming clearer that the last men standing might be Russia and China, the re-engagement process might also take a new twist as the EU realises that the rug has been literally pulled from its feet.
The lost opportunities might be too much to stomach at the expense of unprofitable political fights which have so far yielded little for the resource hungry continent.
In the context of the development aid just handed over to Zimbabwe, Brussels is talking about turning over a new leaf but Harare says this is no historic moment as long as the sanctions against President Robert Mugabe remain in force.
It is not just about the aid and other packages that Zimbabwe is demanding, but also bilateral faith that goes beyond a little political rhetoric.
The development aid might have been handed over for now, but Finance Minister, Patrick Chinamasa wants to see sanctions against President Mugabe removed without any preconditions.
"As long as the EU maintains sanctions against President Mugabe, who is the CEO of Zimbabwe, there can be no meaningful progress. Normalisation of relations cannot ignore that fact which is important to Zimbabwe," he said.
However, the EU is still failing to give satisfactory answers.
"I don't have much to say at the moment. The EU council will look into it as we have a re-engagement process which we feel is going on well," said EU Head of Delegation, Ambassador Phillipe Van Damme.
While Europe has been fighting futile wars against Zimbabwe, the enterprising Russians and Chinese have been striking lucrative deals with the southern African country.
Ironically referring to the two economic global giants as competitors, Ambassador Van Damme said the bloc is not scared.
"We are not scared, all we want is a level playing field from our competitors. The global economy is not about the EU only, it is a world economy," he said.
With the complications of re-engagement, Zimbabwe has taken its deals to other nations while Brussels was taking the fight into its territory.
Perhaps while it is becoming clearer that the last men standing might be Russia and China, the re-engagement process might also take a new twist as the EU realises that the rug has been literally pulled from its feet.
The lost opportunities might be too much to stomach at the expense of unprofitable political fights which have so far yielded little for the resource hungry continent.
Source - zbc
