EU nations protest at France's Mugabe plans

Several European Union nations today protested against French plans to invite Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe for an official visit.

They also called for sanctions to be extended against the embattled southern African leader.

The EU sanctions were imposed last year because of human rights violations by Mugabe’s government.

France wants Mugabe to attend a February 19 Franco-African summit, saying it would use the event to complain about the abuses.

It made the request to its EU partners on Friday and several have raised official protests.

The diplomatic moves came ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers who will debate the extension of the diplomatic measures against Zimbabwe.

Officials said it was likely the ministers would continue a ban stopping senior Zimbabwe officials from travelling to Europe. The EU was also set to keep an arms exports ban to Zimbabwe in place.

Because of the division over the visit to France, “we expect a very lively debate,” said a diplomat from Greece, which holds the EU presidency and chaired today’s talks.

The EU imposed the visa and arms bans last year and froze Zimbabwean assets in Europe after failing to get Mugabe to improve human rights and reverse policies that have created a massive food crisis in a country which was once southern Africa’s breadbasket.

EU sanctions are due to expire on February 18, just one day before the Franco-African summit in Paris begins. France also argues other African nations would boycott the summit if Mugabe was not invited.

Mugabe has cracked down on the independent press, the judiciary, opposition officials, human rights workers and white farmers in recent years.