France must get approval from all 14 of its European Union partners for a visit to Paris by Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe next month, EU diplomats said today.
Unanimous approval is needed to allow an EU visa ban against Zimbabwean officials to be waived to allow Mr Mugabe to attend a Franco-Africa summit in the French capital on February 20-21st, the diplomats said.
France confirmed earlier today that it had invited Mr Mugabe to next month's summit, acknowledging that the visit was likely to infuriate Britain.
Britain has led an international outcry against Mr Mugabe's government in the wake of controversial land reforms and a presidential poll last March which observers said was rigged.
But at a meeting of EU ambassadors this week that tackled the visa issue, only Sweden reserved judgement on whether to allow Mr Mugabe to attend the Paris summit, three EU diplomats said.
"One can suppose that Paris and London have had preliminary contacts," one said. A British diplomat, however, said London remained opposed in general to allowing Mr Mugabe onto EU soil.
"As far as I know there hasn't been a ministerial decision by us, but clearly in principle we don't think that Mr Mugabe should be in Europe," the Brussels-based diplomat said.
"That's the point of the sanctions. We would have to be convinced that the provisions that allow a waiver are actually in place," he added.
The sanctions - which include a freeze on assets held in the EU by Zimbabwe's leaders - were imposed on February 18, 2002, for renewable periods of 12 months.
EU foreign ministers are to meet in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday to discuss renewing the sanctions against Zimbabwe, where millions of people are facing food shortages as well as spiralling inflation and unemployment.
There is little doubt that the sanctions will be extended for another 12 months, the EU diplomats said.
AFP