GERMAN Ambassador to Zimbabwe Albrecht Conze has said the European Union will not follow Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) advice on whether or not to remove sanctions on Zimbabwe.

In sharp contrast with British foreign secretary David Miliband’s statement a fortnight ago, in which he said Europe would be guided by the MDC’s advice before it lifts sanctions on Zimbabwe, Ambassador Conze said the EU would have to make its own judgment based on what obtains on the ground.

“Europeans have made their own judgments and I think they all have their means to find out about how they should develop and pursue their relations with Zimbabwe. They don’t need advice from the ground, from one or the other party. As far as I know, he Miliband was speaking in the House of Commons and that is traditionally a place where one only speaks for one’s own country,” said Ambassador Conze when he featured on Shortwave Radio Africa’s Hot Seat programme on Wednesday.

“The MDC has nothing to decide there. I don’t say that everything the MDC does and says is something that others should immediately follow up on. This is an internal matter of Zimbabwe. What we as Germans and Europeans now realise is that due to the entry of the MDC into the government, many sectors of public life look different today from a year ago and look different in a positive way... But we do not follow particular voices because we are able to make our own judgment and we will continue to make our own judgment.”

A fortnight ago, Miliband was quoted as saying Britain would act on MDC’s advice to remove sanctions on Zimbabwe.

“In respect of sanctions, we have made it clear that they can be lifted only in a calibrated way, as progress is made. I do not think that it is right to say that the choice is between lifting all sanctions and lifting none at all. We have to calibrate our response to the progress on the ground, and, above all, to be guided by what the MDC says to us about the conditions under which it is working and leading the country,” Miliband told the House of Commons.

Miliband’s statement was criticised by the third partner to Zimbabwe’s inclusive government, Professor Arthur Mutambara, as a confirmation that MDC’s was working in cahoots with foreign governments over sanctions on Zimbabwe and that it undermined the former opposition party’s bargaining power in the current talks.

Ambassador Conze said he hoped that the next EU council meeting would “not harden” sanctions on Zimbabwe.

“When sanctions were last hardened, when measures were last added to in January 2009, the situation was very different from today. We had so many signs of hope now in Zimbabwe that I’m very confident that the next council decision will certainly not harden sanctions so maybe the maximum has been reached and when you’ve reached the maximum then it goes the other way. I think there is a consensus now that nobody and no company will be restricted to the list of restricted measures,” said Ambassador Conze.

By Post Zambia