|
'EU summit should go ahead'
25/10/2007 17:39 - (SA)
Pretoria - A delegation of European Union MPs who visited the Pan-African Parliament are of the view that the Africa-European summit should go ahead irrespective of Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe's attendance, deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad said in Pretoria on Thursday.
"It was agreed that we should rather engage Mugabe ... than snub him," Pahad said.
He said some of the key issues that would be discussed at the summit, which will be taking place in Portugal in December, would be climate change, China's involvement in Africa and migration, both legal and illegal.
There were a growing number of European countries who were concerned that the summit had been postponed for years.
'Mugabe's presence would undermine summit'
The summit would give countries an opportunity to ask anything they want regarding Zimbabwe, he added.
"This (engagement) was always on the cards and nothing is being prevented from being discussed...boycotting the summit would not be helpful to the process," Pahad said.
He said he had not heard of any countries planning to boycott the summit except for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Brown has publicly stated he would not attend the summit if Mugabe was allowed to attend.
"I believe that President Mugabe's presence would undermine the summit, diverting attention from the important issues that need to be resolved. In those circumstances, my attendance would not be appropriate," Brown told The Independent on September 20.
|
News
