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Munyaradzi Musiiwa, Midlands Correspondent
THE European Union (EU) is ready to meet and review remaining sanctions on Zimbabwe as relations between the two continue to thaw.
The bloc last month announced easing of sanctions against individuals and companies in what was welcomed by Zimbabwe.
EU removed four individuals from a list of officials banned from visiting Europe but stressed its desire for total removal of the embargo. Those who were removed included Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement Minister Perrance Shiri, ZDF Commander General Philip Valerio Sibanda and former First Lady Mrs Grace Mugabe. The bloc extended sanctions against the Zimbabwe Defence Industries (ZDI) by one year.
However, EU Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Timo Olkkonen told Sunday News in Gweru last week that Foreign Ministers of the EU countries were ready to meet anytime to further review the sanctions on Zimbabwe.
“We just had this annual review of these restrictive measures which took place in mid-February. We always do that and the council can always come back anytime in view of positive or negative developments in order to review those measures that we have in place,” he said.
Mr Olkkonen said Zimbabwe and EU have strong relations on various fronts that needed to be nurtured.
“We have a multifaceted relationship with Zimbabwe, we have political relations, we have a political dialogue going on, we have our development co-operation going on, we have a free trade agreement that is mostly beneficial to Zimbabwe. It is not about Government doing this or that but the Government spelt for itself the reform agenda which we hope they would push through. These include the constitutional alignment, Motlanthe recommendations, electoral observations missions,” he said.
The Ambassador said EU and Zimbabwe relations were also based on historical relations and past experiences.
“The EU expressed itself on those matters two weeks ago when we had the council conclusions on Zimbabwe. The Council had a meeting with Foreign Ministers of the EU where they gave these conclusions. Every country is peculiar in its own right and you can’t contest the fact that we have a history with Zimbabwe and whatever we are doing now is a reflection of the past experiences,” he said.
President Mnangagwa is already leading a number of dialogue initiatives meant to address a number of issues affecting the country. Last month, he was in Bulawayo where he engaged civil societies on issues relating to Gukurahundi. He is set to convene a “consensus-building meeting” with Matabeleland traditional leaders to plan on the exhumation and reburial of victims of Gukurahundi.
The President has also engaged opposition political parties who contested in the 2018 harmonised elections under the Political Actors Dialogue, a platform that brings together political parties that contested the 2018 presidential elections to map a way forward on the issues affecting the country.
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