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Mugabe invited to Lisbon summit despite European Union ban

Ian Traynor

Lisbon: Portugal is prepared to invite President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe to a summit of European and African leaders in Lisbon this year despite an European Union travel ban and sanctions against the 83-year-old leader and top officials in his regime.

Senior officials in Portugal, which took over the six-month presidency of the E.U. on Sunday, said they were not keen to welcome Mr Mugabe to the December summit, but would do so if that was the price of salvaging a meeting they see as their policy priority while in charge of the E.U.

“This is a summit for all African countries at the highest level, heads of Government or heads of state. All African countries must be invited,” a senior Portuguese official said.

Another senior official said the Government could try to defuse the issue by having the African Union, rather than Portugal or the E.U., invite Mr Mugabe to Europe for the meeting on December 8 and 9.

Britain, the leading voice in the E.U. supporting five years of sanctions against Mr Mugabe, and a travel ban on his entourage, is fiercely opposed to having Mr. Mugabe at the summit.

Officials in Brussels say most E.U. members, including the Portuguese, do not want Mr Mugabe in Lisbon, but that the African Union of 53 countries, chaired by Ghana, is demanding that Zimbabwe be treated the same as everyone else.

The last E.U.-Africa summit took place in 2000. Plans for a similar meeting in 2003 collapsed because of the Mugabe dispute. The Portuguese are determined their planned summit will not fail. “We defined a summit with Africa as a priority for our [E.U.] presidency. We want to leave our mark on European foreign policy,” said Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates.

Mr Socrates has strong support from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who recently accused Mr Mugabe of “unspeakable acts” but said the summit should go ahead whether or not the Zimbabwean leader attends.

Government officials in Lisbon said they have not yet invited Mr Mugabe. “There are other creative options,” said a third senior official, amid intensifying diplomacy.

Since he stood down as Prime Minister, Tony Blair has intervened with South African President Thabo Mbeki on the issue, European officials said. Mr Mbeki is trying to mediate a settlement of the Zimbabwe crisis.

Mr Socrates and Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, are expected to fly to Ghana to talk to leaders at an African Union summit which opened in Accra on Sunday. Mr Mugabe is attending that summit. Preparations for the Lisbon gathering of more than 80 African and European leaders are advanced, indicating that Portugal has accepted the A.U.’s terms for treating Zimbabwe and Mr Mugabe like everyone else.

The Portuguese Government argues that so much is at stake in Europe’s relations with Africa that the issue of Zimbabwe should not be allowed to derail the summit. “We don’t want to mix the two,” said Mr Amado.

But officials in Brussels and Lisbon are worried that if Mr Mugabe comes to Europe he will hijack the summit, turn it into a public relations triumph, and exact revenge on the British, who have headed the campaign to isolate his regime. —

Guardian Newspapers Limited 2007

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