WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2010-04-19 Time: 08:00:07 Posted By: News Poster
Harare – A THREE-MEMBER ministerial team led by Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Minister Elton Mangoma leaves Harare for Brussels, Belgium, today to resume re-engagement talks with the European Union. It is our hope that this time the EU will be serious about the talks and honestly engage Zimbabwe on the issues that are on the table.
We know the European Union has always found its position against Zimbabwe to be a tenuous one given that it really does not have any substantive case against Zimbabwe.
The EU had the misfortune of being roped into a bilateral dispute between Zimbabwe and Britain over land and decided to side with its influential member.
It ended up imposing trade, travel and economic sanctions against Zimbabwe to please Britain.
We understand that it is part of the EU doctrine to defend the interests of a member country when they are threatened.
Because the EU could not openly oppose and fight against Zimbabwe’s land reform programme it had to hide behind what it perceived to be violations of human rights, lack of good governance and democracy on the part of Zimbabwe. Given the acrimonious relations among Zimbabwe’s political parties in the last decade, the EU found enough trumped-up charges against the Zimbabwe Government to justify its imposition of sanctions.
But, now that the political parties have reconciled, and have been working together as members of the inclusive Government for over a year, there is no justification for the continued imposition of sanctions.
We know Britain is not yet ready to re-engage Zimbabwe as it is failing to acknowledge the role it played in the souring of relations.
Gordon Brown’s Labour government is still too proud and dishonest to admit that it triggered the land occupations when it reneged on Britain’s Lancaster House commitments to fund land reform under the willing seller-willing buyer programme, which Zimbabwe’s liberation forces negotiated with the Conservative government.
We believe Mangoma and his delegation comprising Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Regional Integration and International Co-operation Minister Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga will be able to argue and prove that whatever grounds the EU had for isolating and imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe, they no longer exist. The achievements of the past year are there for everyone to see.
The three parties to the inclusive Government have continued to negotiate under the mediation of South African President Jacob Zuma to iron out the remaining issues, most of which have arisen in the course of working together as an inclusive Government. The Global Political Agreement has largely been implemented and the major outstanding issue remains that of sanctions.
Zanu-PF has expressed its reluctance to compromise further on the other issues on the table until there is movement on the issue of sanctions.
The Brussels meetings will therefore be critical in encouraging the parties to the GPA to make even greater progress if there is movement on the issue of sanctions.
What worries us though are reports that MDC-T is sending a parallel team to lobby on the sidelines of the EU meetings.
We can only assume this is the work of the Rhodie element in the MDC-T, which seems to have a separate agenda from the rest of the leadership of that party. It is regrettable that the MDC-T has failed to have a united position on the re-engagement programme.
Whatever Mangoma says in favour of normalisation of relations with the EU could be weakened by the counter-arguments from the Rhodesian lobby group.
Will the EU be able to rise above racial prejudice and colonial interests and listen to the genuine leaders of Zimbabwe who are in agreement that the time has come to open a new chapter in Zimbabwe’s relations with the international community? Or they will insist on pursuing Britain’s colonial interests in Zimbabwe and delay the economic recovery of Zimbabwe? Time will tell.
Original Source: 
Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Original date published: 19 April 2010
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201004190218.html?viewall=1