Strasbourg, 15/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - By adopting a joint resolution by five of its political groups in Strasbourg on Thursday (EPP-ED, PES, ELDR, Greens/EFA, GUE/NGL) on Zimbabwe, the European Parliament concluded that, in a context of intimidation of the leaders of the opposition and the electorate, obstacles to the work of the endeavours of the local and international observers and flagrant electoral fraud, the presidential elections "were certainly not free and fair". It immediately urges the EU and the international community "not to recognise the legitimacy of the presidential elections in Zimbabwe".
The Council is urged to react with new measures against the Mugabe Government, notably by widening the list of people deprived of visas for entering the EU - on which there is already President Mugabe and 19 members of the Zanu-PF party - to the Deputy President, Minister of Finance, as well as other people close to the government. Parliament forcefully calls for the assets held abroad by Zimbabwean politicians following the abuse of power to be sought out and placed at the disposal of the people of Zimbabwe. It urges the European Council, meeting in Barcelona, to seize the opportunity to see "how to strengthen and consolidate" measures already taken. Parliament urges South Africa to intervene firmly in favour of democracy and the rule of law, given the risks of destabilisation for the whole of southern Africa, and applauds the politicians and citizens of Zimbabwe who, to the risk of their very lives, defended freedom of expression and democratic values and sought for a change for the wellbeing of all Zimbabweans.
Belgium's Nelly Maes (Volksunie) spoke of a moral victory for the opposition in the context of the elections that were neither free nor fair (notably the lack of ballot papers) and called on the EU to "implement sanctions and control them". "These elections were a real farce", is what Dutch Liberal Bob van den Bos exclaimed, recalling that Mugabe had done all he could to "get rid of his opponents". According to him, Mugabe should be "further isolated". Austrian Socialist Johannes Swoboda said that the President of Zimbabwe "should not rejoice too soon at having beaten his adversaries", and added that what made him "sad was that African Heads of State had endorsed Mr. Mugabe by recognising these elections", possibly through fear of a revival of "neo-colonialism". "The EU must do all it can to restore democracy and the conditions for economic development in that country", he continued, considering that "sanctions need reinforcing". Laura Gonzalez Alvarez (GUE/NGL) called for "democratic stability and a launch of the agrarian reform process". Speaking of "flawed elections", Geoffrey Van Orden (British, EPP-ED) said that there were "good reasons to believe" that Mugabe personified "all that is negative in Africa's development". He also denounced the "disappointing" attitude of certain African nations, especially South Africa.
Stressing the European Union's "growing concern" at the situation in Zimbabwe, Commissioner Franz Fischler said that he expected of the European Council of Barcelona that it discuss the situation and that the EU make a declaration. "Most observers (…) noted that the elections did not reflect the will of the people of Zimbabwe", said Fischler, before speaking of a risk of a propagation of the crisis: "In the short-term, South Africa could find itself faced with a problem of refugees, and, in the longer-term, such a crisis could have repercussions on economic growth and the region's development". The Commissioner indicated that a high-level troika would soon be going to the countries of the SADC".