Cape Town - European Union (EU) President and Czech Republic Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg on Friday called for a resolution to end the political and humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe.
Mr Schwarzenberg, speaking during the South Africa - EU Troika ministerial meeting said the EU was concerned about the political deadlock and humanitarian situation in that country, and in particular the cholera epidemic.
"The EU stresses deep concern regarding the human rights violations in Zimbabwe, the spread of cholera, not only in Zimbabwe but over the borders, and the tendency of Robert Mugabe to resolve through unilateral decisions," he said.
He said the EU was contemplating further extensions on restrictive measures on the country.
Ministers from both the Czech Republic and South Africa called on Zimbabwe's political parties to act with urgency and cooperate in good faith towards the successful conclusion and implementation of the 15 September 2008 power sharing agreement.
The agreement could lift Zimbabwe from its current socio-economic challenges, the ministers observed, further urging the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU) to persist with negotiations.
"We hope that [Zimbabwe's] Parliament [which officially opened on Tuesday] will look at it when it sits in Harare, but of course situations like this are not very easy.
"I don't know how many chances we have to restart negotiations in the Middle East, just like I don't know how many chances we have in Zimbabwe," the EU President explained.
President Kgalema Motlanthe, as Chairman of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), will on Monday lead a delegation to Harare to meet with President Mugabe and the leaders of the two MDC factions and revive talks to implement the power-sharing deal.
Regarding the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA), which have been a sticking point for South Africa and the EU in the past, South African Foreign Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said she hoped progress would be made on this critical topic.
"We hope we will reach some understanding...and hope we will be able to discuss the concerns that South Africa has and hope that she [the new EU Commission for Trade Baroness Ashton] will be able to accommodate as many concerns as possible," Ms Dlamini Zuma said.
South Africa refused to sign EPA's with the EU citing the fact that bully tactics were used to get African countries to sign the EPA's.
Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Dr Rob Davies in December 2007 said that many of the EPA's were reached as the trade commission had threatened to impose heavy tariffs on goods from African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries being exported to the EU.
The EU president, in responding to questions regarding the EPA said they received a package of concerns from South Africa which were perfectly legitimate.
"I will convey these concerns which seem to be perfectly legitimate to me - it is normal that questions be raised about the impact of the EPAs.
"Minister Dlamini Zuma has said that the [Trade] Commission Ashton is very flexible and open minded in order to tackle these concerns," Mr Schwarzenberg said.
The ministers also discussed the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Palestine, and pledged to redouble their efforts to assist the Palestinian people.
Both South Africa and the EU welcomed the adoption of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1860, calling for an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
"The meeting urged all Palestinian groups to continue with their reconciliation talks to establish a Palestinian government, fully representative of the aspirations of the Palestinian people," the DFA said.
The Israeli government on Saturday confirmed a ceasefire and withdrawal from Gaza as long as Hamas rocket-fire into Israel stopped.
South Africa and the EU agreed to hold a second SA-EU Summit in South Africa during the second half of 2009 under the Swedish Presidency of the EU.
