"The report said the EU barred Eritrea from attending the summit which is
expected to run from 2-3 April. Another full AU member, the Saharawi Arab
Democratic Republic, was also not invited"
http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Africa-calls-for-EU-summit-boycott-report-20140327
2014-03-27 09:37Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace.
(File, AFP)
Cape Town - An organ of the African Union has reportedly urged a boycott of
the EU-AU summit scheduled for next week in Brussels to protest what is
seen as a "dictation" by the European Union on who is eligible to attend
the meeting.
According to The Herald, Zimbabwe's foreign minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi
said the AU Peace and Security Council met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and
took a decision that the EU was in violation of an AU resolution that they
do not have the right to determine the composition of Africa's delegation.
"The ball is now in the EU's court. It's now up to the EU to decide whether
they want the summit to proceed or not," Mumbengegwi was quoted as saying.
The report said the EU barred Eritrea from attending the summit which is
expected to run from 2-3 April. Another full AU member, the Saharawi Arab
Democratic Republic, was also not invited.
The report said Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was also not been invited
although an invite was sent to his country. Bashir is wanted by the
International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against
humanity in Darfur.
Restrictive measures
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's wife Grace, was also not granted a
visa to travel with her husband.
Mugabe and his wife Grace are under an EU travel ban imposed in 2002, after
a government crackdown on the opposition and the eviction of white farmers
from agricultural land.
The EU had waived the visa ban on Mugabe, who is the vice-chairperson of
the AU, saying it was not bound by the ban when hosting large international
conferences.
A Sapa report quoted Zimbabwe's foreign ministry permanent secretary Joey
Bimha on Wednesday as saying: "We are expecting the Southern African
Development Community [SADC] and the AU to ensure that she gets a travel
visa. Otherwise, the summit has to be postponed," he said.
But According to New Zimbabwe.com, EU ambassador to Zimbabwe Aldo
Dell'Ariccia maintained that only those with a role to play in meetings at
thehad been invited.
Dell'Ariccia said since Mugabe's wife was under restrictive measures, the
host country (Belgium) had to seek a green light for her to attend.
Received on Thu Mar 27 2014 - 08:13:39 EDT