Landmark SA-EU summit overshadowed by Zim crisis
Thématique :
EU,
sud afrique
ALEXANDRA LESIEUR | JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Jul 24 2008
South Africa and the European Union hold their first-ever summit in the French city of Bordeaux on Friday but divergent positions on ways of tackling the political crisis in Zimbabwe have cast a pall over the event.
Africa's top economy and the EU, its biggest investor, want to take their relationship to a "new level" at the summit, attended by French President Nicolas Sarkozy -- whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU -- South Africa's Thabo Mbeki and European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso.
"The Republic of South Africa is the main regional power in Africa and a member of the group of emerging countries. It is one of the drivers of growth in the continent and a success story that refutes Afro-pessimism," the EU said in a statement.
It said the summit aimed "at taking relations between the EU and South Africa to the next level".
The South African government was equally upbeat, saying "one of the main goals is to deepen relations between the European Union and South Africa".
But the diametrically opposed positions of the two sides on seeking an end to the protracted political crisis in South Africa's northern neighbour, Zimbabwe -- ruled since its 1980 independence from Britain by President Robert Mugabe -- looms large.
The EU on Tuesday widened sanctions against Zimbabwe despite a deal between hard-line President Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai aimed at finding a solution.
EU foreign ministers added 37 more people to a list of individuals under a visa ban and whose assets have been frozen, as well as four companies, and threatened to take further action.
The list -- which had already included Mugabe, his wife and other senior officials -- now totals 168 people and four companies, and sees the EU for the first time target businesses and those who run them.
South Africa and the European Union hold their first-ever summit in the French city of Bordeaux on Friday but divergent positions on ways of tackling the political crisis in Zimbabwe have cast a pall over the event.
Africa's top economy and the EU, its biggest investor, want to take their relationship to a "new level" at the summit, attended by French President Nicolas Sarkozy -- whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU -- South Africa's Thabo Mbeki and European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso.
"The Republic of South Africa is the main regional power in Africa and a member of the group of emerging countries. It is one of the drivers of growth in the continent and a success story that refutes Afro-pessimism," the EU said in a statement.
It said the summit aimed "at taking relations between the EU and South Africa to the next level".
The South African government was equally upbeat, saying "one of the main goals is to deepen relations between the European Union and South Africa".
But the diametrically opposed positions of the two sides on seeking an end to the protracted political crisis in South Africa's northern neighbour, Zimbabwe -- ruled since its 1980 independence from Britain by President Robert Mugabe -- looms large.
The EU on Tuesday widened sanctions against Zimbabwe despite a deal between hard-line President Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai aimed at finding a solution.
EU foreign ministers added 37 more people to a list of individuals under a visa ban and whose assets have been frozen, as well as four companies, and threatened to take further action.
The list -- which had already included Mugabe, his wife and other senior officials -- now totals 168 people and four companies, and sees the EU for the first time target businesses and those who run them.
