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afrol News, 9 October - A planned summit between Southern African and European countries is causing increased controversy as the European Union (EU) is split on whether to invite Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe-question threatens to undermine the whole summit and it seems certain that the summit will be moved out of Europe on short notice. The EU and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) had agreed to organise a summit in Copenhagen, Denmark - location of the EU Presidency this half year - on 4–6 November. Important political issues were to be discussed, trade to be promoted and Southern Africa was to sign new development contracts with is main donors, the EU countries. Now, even the date and the location of the summit are unsure. Sources close to the Dutch government reveal to afrol News that the "EU-SADC summit will probably be postponed" and it will "definitely not be [held] in Copenhagen, but in Maputo, Mozambique." Participants and observers have however not yet been informed. The reasons behind the sudden change of plans are again based in the EU differences on how to treat the Zimbabwean crisis. Several EU member states, notably the Netherlands and the UK, want to isolate the regime of President Robert Mugabe in all international forums. Others prefer dialogue or even cooperation with the Zimbabwean government. According to our source, several EU governments have insisted on not inviting a delegation from Zimbabwe "because of the sanctions" against the Mugabe regime. This includes the Dutch government, which took the initiative to exclude Zimbabwe. The Netherlands - upon insisting that Zimbabwe's ex-colonial power, the UK, kept a lower profile - are observed taking the lead among Europe's hardliners on the Zimbabwe issue. Other EU member states however wanted to stay in touch with Zimbabwe and therefore invite the regime on an equal basis as other Southern African countries as Zimbabwe is a member state of the SADC. France - which also objected to the EU sanctions against Zimbabwe and on several occasions has violated them - promoted this line. Several compromise proposals existed, namely inviting a lower profile government delegation from Zimbabwe than from other SADC countries. Another was to only invite Zimbabwe if the political crisis in the country was made the principal issue on the summit's agenda. The "hard stance" taken by those refusing to invite a Zimbabwean delegation however seems to rule out compromises, according to EU ministerial sources. The way out is not to arrange the summit in Copenhagen but in Maputo. Thus, the EU would not be inviting, but the Mozambican government. Mozambique certainly would invite a delegation from its neighbour state, Zimbabwe. The Danish EU Presidency has not wanted to comment on the issue. However, Denmark's Ambassador to Mozambique, Thomas Schjerbeck, could confirm that the issue of moving the summit was being discussed between the EU member countries. "It is not decided yet," Schjerbeck said on telephone from Maputo. The Mozambican capital further only was one of several options and the summit still might be arranged in Copenhagen. He had not been instructed to negotiate with the Mozambican government. A spokesman of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs further denies there is any split in the EU position on Zimbabwe, as a decision had to be taken by all together, as a group. "Principally, the position of the EU is not to invite Zimbabwe to the summit due to the sanctions that once were adopted by the 15 [EU countries] against that country." He did not wish to comment on the Spanish position or whether the summit would be moved to Maputo. Also the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to be silent on the issue and avoid disclosing the Swedish stance. The decision to exclude Zimbabwe had "been taken by EU member states as a whole," a spokeswoman said. According to sources within European non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the planned relocation of the summit has not been made public yet. Hundreds of participants to the parallel conference of NGOs in Copenhagen - coming from Southern African and Europe - have already reserved their tickets and hotels. One of the issues they were to discuss in Copenhagen was the Zimbabwean crisis. The Danish group Southern Africa Contact (SAC), which is organising the NGO conference, is still unaware of possible changes to the program. Morten Nielsen, SAC Chairman, however told afrol News that the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs today suddenly "cancelled all disbursements" to their conference without giving any explication. He says only has heard rumours of transferring the summit to Maputo, and is still awaiting an official confirmation. Mr Nielsen further confirms the link to the Zimbabwe dispute but criticises the EU decision not to invite Zimbabwe. According to him, the SADC had "tried to calm the EU" by not choosing Robert Mugabe as its Vice President. Further, there were no formal problems inviting the Zimbabwean Foreign Minister as human rights and good governance were to be discussed. - How are we going to resolve the crisis in Zimbabwe without talking to Mugabe, Mr Nielsen asks? "By violence?" Not inviting a Zimbabwean delegation certainly was "the cheapest way" of making a stance against the Mugabe regime, he adds, doubting it would lead to improvements in Zimbabwe.
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