EU yet to make decision on Zim ambassador

The EU ambassador to Zimbabwe, Aldo Dell’Ariccia on Tuesday said in a statement that the EU has given the agreement to Zimbabwes ambassador designate, Ms Margaret Muchada, but the decision about the possible presentation of Ms Muchadas credentials to the President of the European Commission, Mr Barrosso, has not been taken.

He was reacting to state media reports that quoted him as having said the EU will not interfere with Mugabe’s unilateral deployment of ambassadors, following letters of protest by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai that they were unconstitutional. Tsvangirai last month told the EU and the United Nations that ambassadors appointed solely by Mugabe dont speak on behalf of the whole government. He wrote to EU president Jose Manuel Baroso stating his position that the appointment of Muchada, and those of Zimbabwes ambassadors to the United Nations and four countries, was null and void because Mugabe named them without consultation.

The Herald quoted Dell’Ariccia as saying that the posting of diplomats should be left to individual sovereign states. But in a statement to the media late on Tuesday Dell’Ariccia said the newspaper report was incorrect. The United Nations has already said that it cannot expel the Zimbabwean diplomat appointed by Mugabe, saying the ambassador has been properly accredited in July. UN deputy spokesperson Farham Haq said: The appointment of an ambassador is an internal matter for a member state which is to be decided upon in accordance with the provisions of its own domestic law.

But there is no sign yet that the EU will follow in the UNs footsteps. The grouping remains under firm pressure to heed Tsvangirais letter, with MEP Geoffrey Van Orden, campaigning for the body to take strong action against the Mugabe regime. Van Orden who spearheads the European Parliaments campaign for freedom and democratic change in Zimbabwe, said this week that no EU decision has been made.