European Parliament clarifies resolution

The European Parliament confirmed on Monday that it had called on the European Commission (EC) and member states to identify overseas assets held by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe. “But there was no recommendation by parliament to have those assets probed or frozen,” Paul Malin, an EU parliamentary liaison officer, told IRIN. The European Parliament passed a resolution on the situation in Zimbabwe on 15 March, registering its opposition to what it called “widespread human rights abuses”. “It is an important resolution that ultimately could have an impact on EC policy in the region,” Malin said. The resolution calls on the EC and member states to suspend all development aid currently being managed through the Zimbabwean government and urges a withdrawal of Zimbabwean troops from the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The EC currently funds a number of development projects in Zimbabwe, but these are mainly in collaboration with local NGOs, EC sources in Harare told IRIN. Although resolutions by the European Parliament do not commit the EC to action, they often influence policy and resource allocation. The resolution also urges targeted, but unspecified, action against Mugabe’s government.