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The European Union (EU) expressed concern in Brussels on Thursday about renewed violence in Mozambique and urged visiting President Joaquim Chissano to show restraint, Reuters reported. Opposition protests last week against Chissano’s alleged rigging of last December’s presidential election ended with the deaths of 41 people. “We expressed our concern over the recent political violence and urged the president to show moderation and use his influence to uphold the unity of the country,” Romano Prodi, president of the European Commission, said.
Chissano said the democratic process would continue and dismissed the recent protests as an isolated episode. International observers declared last December’s election free and fair, but Chissano’s rival Afonso Dhlakama accused him of rigging the result. Dhlakama has threatened to reignite Mozambique’s 16-year civil war, which ended in 1992.
EU Commissioner for Development, Poul Nielson, told reporters that the 15-nation bloc would provide US $102 million in aid to Mozambique this year, rising to an annual sum of around US $120 million in the next few years.
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