MEPs call for more Zimbabwe sanctions

The European Parliament on Thursday called on EU governments to renew and expand targeted sanctions on Zimbabwe.

The current punative measures against the Zimbabwean regime expire on February 20 and while early signs point to a definite renewal of the sanctions, more resistance is expected towards tougher action.

But MEPs have again urged the council of ministers to take a more “active and urgent” approach to the repressive regime run by Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe and the ruling ZANU-PF.

Parliamentarians have called specifically for the rescinding of rights of residence in the EU of those subject to a travel ban and the prevention of their family members accessing employment and educational institutions in Europe.

They have asked for the curtailing of high-profile economic links with Harare and measures against those providing financial backing for the ZANU-PF activities.

MEPs have been frustrated on several occasions that the EU's travel ban on high profile Zimbabwean politicians has not been strictly enforced.

Thursday's European Parliament resolution comes as national officials prepare to thrash out the details of the new sanctions regime ahead of the February 20 decision.

A UK diplomat confirmed that London would be arguing strongly for the sanctions to be renewed and that the scope of the measures was also under consideration. “We need to impact the right people,” he said.

But while confident that there was no resistance so far to the actual renewal of the sanctions regime, he conceded that the extension of measures may be "more controversial." 

UK MEP Geoffrey van Orden, one of the author’s of the parliament’s resolution said on Thursday that conditions in the country were spiralling out of control.

“Mugabe and his ZANU-PF cronies have systematically pillaged and brutalised the once prosperous country of Zimbabwe, brought lawlessness and starvation to its people, and forced so many of them to live in fear and desperation,” he said.

Under Mugabe’s rule, GDP has fallen by 40 per cent over the last four years, with annual inflation now reaching 620 per cent and scheduled to pass 1,000 per cent during 2004.

Unemployment stands at 70 per cent and some 6.5 million people are in need of food aid.

MEPs have also condemned the suppression of opposition politicians and attacks on freedom of the press.

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