EU to lift most of the targeted sanctions on Zimbabwe

Posted by on Friday, March 22, 2013 in European Union, Zimbabwe politics | 17 comments

Geoffrey Van Orden, a British member of the European Parliament

By Violet Gonda
22 March 2013

The European Union is set to lift sanctions on all but a few members of ZANU PF, as a reward for conducting a ‘peaceful’ constitutional referendum. This comes a month after they lifted a travel ban and asset freeze on 27 other people on the targeted sanctions list.

Reports say about 10 individuals from the banned list of 91, including Mugabe and security chiefs, will remain on the list.

Geoffrey Van Orden, a British member of the European Parliament, confirmed that they will be adjusting the restrictive measures on Zimbabwe and that the provisions on this would be taken within the next few days.

He said: “The referendum was certainly judged by SADC as being peaceful and credible and it was conducted reasonably well. As a result the EU proposal will show a serious reduction in the restrictive measures and in return for that we want reassurance that everything is going to go well for the elections.”

The developments come at a time when the MDC formations and rights groups say there is an increased crackdown on NGOs and rights defenders.

The MEP told SW Radio Africa: “We understand fully that the elections are the most important event but the motive behind this move to de-list some people is to show a sign of encouragement.

“My understanding is that even if some people are delisted they can be quickly put back on the list if there is any indication that things are not going properly in preparation for the elections.”

Van Orden, who has previously campaigned for the restrictions to remain, said if it was up to him he would have the EU wait a bit longer, but he said he understands the desire to indicate “not just to people in Zimbabwe but also to South Africa and other SADC countries, good intentions, that if they do move in the right direction they will be rewarded for this.”

He stressed that if there are “any suggestions of violence or the manipulation of the electoral procedures in the run up to elections,” then the EU will re-impose the restrictive measures.

ZANU PF has consistently said the targeted sanctions were illegally imposed and that they were a response to the violent seizure of white commercial farms.

The EU imposed the sanctions following the 2002 disputed presidential elections.

To contact this reporter email violet@swradioafrica.com or follow on Twitter

  • dumbu

    Mugabe to remain on sanctions till doomsday .The judgement day will come and tell people how he massacred people with his Gukurahundi style.

    • Chimbwido Warvet

      Those who have read your articles before know that your brains and their reasoning powers are limited. You just follow the likes of Wilbert Mukori, a big time fool and idiot, without thinking for yourself. That is why some of us think you are a slave of other people who gets used without realising it.

      • Yoozak Hunt

        You Chimbwido are a slave to the propaganda of ZANU-PF, any child can see that… if you DID think for yourself, you would soon see what crap you write…. you demonstrate time and time again that you cannot accept the reality that Zimbabwe must change from the current breed of dictators and tyrants that think they can run the country forever.

        Worse still you still think this is all foreign intervention behind the MDC…
        ZANU-PF have mortgaged Zimbabwe to the Chinese and you have the gall to complain about the MDC… tell us why the signs at Harare Airport are in English and Chinese? ! Bloody RGM and his thieves have sold out and given Zimbabwe to the Chinese, and that will stop after the elections as they will be kicked out and all the assets they have grabbed will be taken back

        • Chimbwido Warvet

          If wishes were horses beggars would ride, so they say. Elections are won when they are won Bazooka Hunt. While I do not want to pre-empt the outcome of election result because it is too early, the election result has already been decided by the indigenous people of this country. I am have no doubt in mind as to who the next leader of this country will be but it is premature to say so right now. As I have indicated above and elsewhere, it is only the former white settlers of Zimbabwe who think a regime that gives land back to its original owners can be a breed of dictators and tyrants. It can only be a breed of thieves who continued to hold on to our land even when we were a sovereign and independent country. That thinking was diabolic, foolish, evil and was not sustainable by any standards. The black people of Zimbabwe deserve respect and dignity. You should stop talking to me like you are talking to Wilbert Mukori, a big time fool and idiot. I know where we came from as a people. In other words, I know my history like I know the back of my hand. Consequently, I am not a slave to the propaganda of ZANU PF.

          The Chinese and Russians you disparage are the true friends of the Zimbabwean people for while the Western world looked the other way when my people were butchered by the British and Rhodies put together, the Chinese and Russians came to our help. That Zimbabwe is now a sovereign and independent state is due to the financial, military, diplomatic and moral support provided by these two countries. As a principled people, we can not just forget their assistance which came at a time we were treated as trash by foreigners in our own country for hundreds of years. Anyone who would forget and ignore their assistance is not worth being characterised as a human being. And I guess you are not human because if you are human and know your history well, you would not disparage the Chinese the way you have done. Only kangaroos and squirrels behave this way

          • dumbu

            Haaaaa! Sure as you do.

          • Chimbwido Warvet

            Wanakirwaka blazo. Asika mose na Wilbert Mukori murimadafi. Hamuzivi chinhu mwanawamai. Koicho chikoro chakaipeiko kana cheusiku zvacho?

          • dumbu

            Good to show us your real picture. Mazitumbu amakadaro nemari dzokuba tichaabvajura

        • dumbu

          I salute and support you my fellow Zimbabwean, not that Chimbwido Warvet brainwashed by ZANU(PF) thieves.

      • dumbu

        Your brains are just washed with ZANU(PF)thuggery, you are so confused that you do not know what to say and to who. Leave Wilbert Mukori alone because he is wiser than you. You are the slave of ZANU(PF) musharukwa.

  • super mondo

    zanu are laughing dont trust these two faced scum

  • Klaw

    Does Geoffrey Van Orden have any idea just how many people were not allowed to vote? People born, bred and worked in Zimbabwe all their lives, but not allowed to vote because their parents were not born in Zimbabwe? Does he think that’s fair?

    • Chimbwidos Warvets

      You walk and think like a chameleon shown below. Your lies are legendary. Who was not allowed to vote and what were the reasons? These are the issues you should address in your article above for you to be understood. Do you have a borne to chew with the political establishment in Zimbabwe and if so tell us why? You must be a very bitter man indeed. It seems to me you may have had what you termed as your farm which was taken away from you by the Mugabe government. If that is the case, it seems to be that was the right thing to do. Mugabe had to deal with thieves who had stolen our land for hundreds of years. Today the indigenous people of this country are extremely happy that they got back what is rightfully theirs, end of story.

      • dumbu

        That is the true picture of Chimbwido Warvet, mazvionaka izviiiii!

  • Chimbwido Warvet

    Who gave the European Union (EU) the right to impose economic sanctions against a sovereign and independent state such as Zimbabwe? Quite frankly, the EU is not a policeman of the world and has no right at all in imposing its will on Zimbabwe. All sanctions imposed on the country and its people should be removed right now. There is no justification for the continued economic sanctions against this country that has suffered for so long for no other reason than racism.

    • GBZ

      The EU has every right to do exactly what they want in THEIR OWN countries and if the corrupt Cheffs of Zimbabwe government decide to use EU banks to hide their stolen loot then they have to comply with EU standards, and rules. Capish?

      Secondly the sanctions are NOT against the country of Zimbabwe or its people, they are “targeted” sancanctions against the those nasty people who have stolen the Zimbabweans money and hidden it in EU countries and other Western countries so that they can enrich themselves out of Zim where they can run and hide if and when they have been found out and will go to prison for stealing.Capish?

      Thirdly this country has suffered NOT because of targeted sanctions, but because of an incompetant government of murders, torturers, rapists who starves its own people into submission to them. A goverment that is corrupt beyond measure who care less for the population , and only for its supporters. A president that stays in power by cheating the polls, and uses the force of the military, the police, the cio, the air force, the green bombers, the registrar general and the judiciary to corruptly stay in power and who has become the most evil of evil dictator. Capish?

      And you are a supporter of this evil, shame on you, really, shame on you…!

      • Chimbwido Warvets

        I am aware that for years you have clearly shown you have a bone to pick with the government of Zimbabwe on account of your farm and those of other white settlers that were taken for resettlement purposes. We are also fully aware that the economic sanctions imposed by the European Union were as a result of the stance taken by the government of Zimbabwe in giving what you considered as your farms to the indigenous people of this country. To the former white settlers in Zimbabwe, this sitting government has become ‘corrupt, a cheater at the polls, uses the force of the military, the police, the CIO, the air force, the green bombers, the registrar general and the judiciary to corruptly stay in power’. I can understand why you regard Mugabe, a nationalist and the surviving father of Zimbabwe after the late Joshua Nkomo, as the most evil dictator while the indigenous people respect and admire him for making them a respected and proud people. If these were sentiments coming from a black man I was going to be surprised but not from a former white settler in Zimbabwe who has a bone to chew with the incumbent Head of State of Zimbabwe. But the question you should ask the indigenous people of this country who benefited from the land they were given is whether they really care. The people of Zimbabwe are now happy that justice over their land that has been in the hands of thieves for hundreds of years has finally prevailed over evil.

    • dumbu

      Your mother gave them the right to impose economis sanctions