President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe would be well advised to heed the pointed message sent to him from Brussels. There is nothing like a sharp blow to the pocketbook to concentrate the mind and this is precisely what the European Union has done.
It deserves, therefore, to be congratulated for taking what could prove to be decisive action against a regime which has descended into authoritarianism at an alarming rate.
The EU has clearly delineated what it wants done and the penalties to be applied if its demands are not met. In the run-up to the presidential election scheduled for March, Mr Mugabe will have to allow unfettered access to a team of EU observers from February 3rd.
He and his government must not hamper free media coverage of the polls. A serious deterioration in the country's human rights situation must be avoided and at the end of the day international observers must be convinced that the vote has been freely and fairly conducted.
If any of these conditions is not met Mr Mugabe and 20 of his closest political associates will face a ban on foreign travel. Their personal assets held abroad will be frozen. In addition to this the EU will impose a ban on exports to Zimbabwe of any material that could be used to impose repressive measures.
The sanctions, amongst the most stringent proposed by the EU against a sovereign state, have an additional benefit in that they will not adversely affect the large majority of Zimbabweans who have suffered badly in the latter years of Mr Mugabe's rule.
The Brussels decision will be seen as a political victory for the British Foreign Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, who will now attempt to persuade the Commonwealth to introduce similar measures. His task with the Commonwealth, which has a sizeable African component with little sympathy for its former colonial masters, may be considerably more difficult to achieve.
But South Africa, as the main regional power, would have much to gain should democracy prevail in Zimbabwe. The sharp decrease in the value of the Rand , for example, can be put down largely to Zimbabwe's instability which has shaken regional confidence. South Africa's president Mr Thabo Mbeki has even greater economic leverage over Zimbabwe than that threatened by the EU. His support of similar penalties could be a conclusive factor in restoring stability and confidence to the region.