Summary: February 16, 2002: Statement by Pierre Schori, Permanent Representative of Sweden at the UN in New York and Head of the EU Observer mission to Zimbabwe (Brussels)
Yesterday morning, the Chief Immigration Officer informed me that my visa was being revoked and I was required to leave Zimbabwe.
At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the EU Presidency that I could remain in the country, as a tourist, provided I refrained from making any public statements.
The Zimbabwe authorities, having given me a visitor visa, have told me that it is incompatible with the conditions of that visa that I should make any comment on our observation exercise. All such comments, they asserted, are of a political nature.
Early today, the Chief Immigration Office informed me that the government had decided that I must leave today.
It is, and always has been, for the government of Zimbabwe to determine the appropriate immigration status of visitors to this beautiful country. In advance of my arrival, the European Commission delegation informed the Government of Zimbabwe that I would be leading the EU's mission. And I declared on arrival last Sunday that the purpose of my visit to Zimbabwe was to lead the EU observation mission. This, necessarily, involves making public statements and speaking to the media, who are understandably very interested in the activities of the mission and in the election process more generally. The Government's demand that I refrain from this was not only surprising, given that speaking to the press is still not illegal in Zimbabwe, but also unacceptable.
The decision to revoke my visa and demand that I leave provides a particularly unfortunate twist in the ongoing dispute between the Zimbabwe government and the European Union (EU) over election observation: a dispute, furthermore, which my EU colleagues, both here and in Brussels, have been doing their utmost to resolve. We have consulted closely with African leaders throughout the continent in order to find a mutually acceptable solution, and continue to do so.
Leaving Harare today my feelings are more of sorrow than of anger. I know that most Zimbabweans earnestly desire that relations with the European Union should continue to deepen and flourish. This is in the interest of both communities. Zimbabwe matters to Europe not only as a proud and industrious nation, and a potentially significant economic and trading partner, but also as an important and influential member of SADC. This is why my government, led by the late Olof Palme, and myself, worked hard to support the African liberation struggle including by providing moral, political, and humanitarian assistance to ZANU and ZAPU.
This crisis has arisen in a situation where we have more than two dozen EU observers who have been officially accredited by the Electoral Supervisory Commission (ESC).
It is against this background that I have send a report to Brussels which will be discussed at the meeting of the fifteen Foreign Ministers of the European Union next Monday 18th February 2002.
For further information on the decision on smart sanctions please go to "General Affairs Council, February 18/19, 2002"
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