EU/Zimbabwe/Republic of Moldova

The Coun­cil adopt­ed the fol­low­ing conclusions:

“1. The Coun­cil empha­sis­es its readi­ness to work close­ly with the Gov­ern­ment of Nation­al Uni­ty in Zim­bab­we in address­ing the chal­lenges the coun­try faces and in the imple­men­ta­tion of its com­mit­ments as set out in the Glob­al Polit­i­cal Agree­ment of Sep­tem­ber 2008.

2. The Coun­cil recog­nis­es the Gov­ern­ment of Zimbabwe’s ongo­ing efforts to imple­ment the GPA, and the progress achieved after one year in office, in par­tic­u­lar in the eco­nom­ic sphere. The Coun­cil wel­comes agree­ment on 21 Decem­ber 2009 by the sig­na­to­ries of the GPA to estab­lish the Com­mis­sions on Human Rights, Elec­toral Affairs and Con­sti­tu­tion­al Reform. The EU is active­ly sup­port­ing the GPA imple­men­ta­tion through a spe­cif­ic coop­er­a­tion programme.

3. Nev­er­the­less, the Coun­cil notes with con­cern insuf­fi­cient progress with regard to the rule of law, respect for human rights, con­sti­tu­tion­al reforms, pow­er shar­ing on equal terms, nation­al rec­on­cil­i­a­tion, secu­ri­ty sec­tor reform and the pro­tec­tion of investors.

4. In light of the above, the Coun­cil has decid­ed to revise and extend for anoth­er year appro­pri­ate and restric­tive mea­sures. Nev­er­the­less, its stands ready to keep them under con­stant review and to revoke them in response to fur­ther con­crete devel­op­ments in the imple­men­ta­tion of the GPA.

5. The Coun­cil reaf­firms its com­mit­ment to a suc­cess­ful polit­i­cal dia­logue. The launch of the Arti­cle 8 Polit­i­cal Dia­logue in Brus­sels on 18 June 2009 and the EU troi­ka vis­it to Zim­bab­we in Sep­tem­ber 2009 were impor­tant steps in the process of nor­mal­i­sa­tion of EUZ­im­bab­we rela­tions. The Coun­cil calls for reg­u­lar and time­ly continuation.

6. The Coun­cil wel­comes the recent hand­ing over of the Glob­al Polit­i­cal Agree­ment Com­mit­ment Plan by the Gov­ern­ment of Zim­bab­we as it con­sti­tutes a basis for a con­tin­ued Polit­i­cal Dialogue.

7. The Coun­cil also wel­comes the inten­si­fied region­al diplo­ma­cy and encour­ages the SADC, the AU and States in the region to con­tin­ue to make all efforts to cre­ate a con­struc­tive envi­ron­ment in which issues out­stand­ing can be resolved.

8. The Euro­pean Union remains the largest provider of assis­tance to Zim­bab­we in par­tic­u­lar through its tran­si­tion­al sup­port for agri­cul­ture and food secu­ri­ty, social sec­tors, includ­ing health and edu­ca­tion, and for GPA imple­men­ta­tion. The EU dis­bursed 274 mil­lion Euros in Zim­bab­we in 2009.” 

Repub­lic of Moldo­va ‑Visa ban against the lead­er­ship of the Transnis­tri­an region ‑Coun­cil conclusions

The Coun­cil adopt­ed a deci­sion (5934/10) extend­ing restric­tive mea­sures against the lead­er­ship of the Transnis­tri­an region of the Repub­lic of Moldo­va by twelve months until 27 Feb­ru­ary 2011. The deci­sion, how­ev­er, pro­vides for the sus­pen­sion of the visa ban until 30 Sep­tem­ber 2010 in order to encour­age progress in reach­ing a polit­i­cal set­tle­ment to the Transnis­tri­an con­flict, to address remain­ing prob­lems in Latin-script schools and to restore the free move­ment of per­sons; at the end of the sus­pen­sion peri­od, the Coun­cil will review the visa ban in the light of devel­op­ments. The deci­sion includes also an amend­ment of the list of per­sons to whom the visa ban applies. 

The Coun­cil also adopt­ed the fol­low­ing conclusions:

“1. The Coun­cil wel­comes the cau­tious pos­i­tive devel­op­ments in the Transnis­tri­an set­tle­ment process in recent months. It notes in par­tic­u­lar an increased open­ness of the new gov­ern­ment of the Repub­lic of Moldo­va and the de fac­to Transnis­tri­an lead­er­ship to engage in dia­logue. The Coun­cil also wel­comes the Moldovan government’s efforts to address the Transnis­tri­an issue, its expres­sion of a firm com­mit­ment to the 5+2 process and its sup­port of con­fi­dence­build­ing measures.

2. At the same time, the Coun­cil regrets the fact that no sub­stan­tial progress has been made towards a polit­i­cal set­tle­ment of the Transnis­tri­an con­flict; that the sit­u­a­tion of some Latin­script Moldovan schools in the Transnis­tri­an region remains prob­lem­at­ic and that the de fac­to Transnis­tri­an author­i­ties con­tin­ue to place obsta­cles on the free move­ment of persons.

3. The Coun­cil has there­fore decid­ed to extend the restric­tive mea­sures (pro­vid­ed for by Com­mon Posi­tion 2008/160/CFSP and extend­ed by Com­mon Posi­tion 2009/139/CFSP) against cer­tain mem­bers of the de fac­to Transnis­tri­an author­i­ties for a fur­ther peri­od of 12 months. How­ev­er, in order to encour­age progress, the Coun­cil has decid­ed at the same time to sus­pend the imple­men­ta­tion of the restric­tive mea­sures until the end of Sep­tem­ber 2010. The Coun­cil has also decid­ed that it is appro­pri­ate to delete 3 names from the list of tar­get­ed persons.

The Coun­cil calls on the de fac­to Transnis­tri­an author­i­ties strong­ly to engage in con­struc­tive efforts to reach a polit­i­cal set­tle­ment to the Transnis­tri­an con­flict, to address the remain­ing prob­lems of the Latin-script schools, and to restore free move­ment of per­sons. By the end of Sep­tem­ber 2010, the Coun­cil will review the sus­pen­sion of the restric­tive mea­sures and the visa ban list in the light of the devel­op­ments, notably in the areas men­tioned above. The Coun­cil may decide to re-apply or lift the trav­el restric­tions at any time.

4. The Coun­cil reaf­firms the com­mit­ment of the Euro­pean Union to the Transnis­tri­an set­tle­ment efforts, notably by par­tic­i­pa­tion in the 5+2 process and by sup­port­ing con­fi­dence-build­ing mea­sures. The Coun­cil recalls the impor­tance of resum­ing the 5+2 talks as soon as pos­si­ble in order to achieve a sus­tain­able set­tle­ment to the Transnis­tri­an con­flict, in full respect of the ter­ri­to­r­i­al integri­ty and sov­er­eign­ty of the Repub­lic of Moldova.

5. The Coun­cil reaf­firms its firm com­mit­ment to con­tin­ue strength­en­ing the polit­i­cal asso­ci­a­tion and eco­nom­ic inte­gra­tion of the Repub­lic of Moldo­va with the EU. In this con­text, the Coun­cil recalls the joint state­ment of the Coop­er­a­tion Coun­cil between the EU and the Repub­lic of Moldo­va on 21 Decem­ber 2009, and wel­comes the start of nego­ti­a­tions on an Asso­ci­a­tion Agree­ment on 12 Jan­u­ary 2010.”

EU-Moroc­co summit

The Coun­cil took note of prepa­ra­tions for an EU-Moroc­co sum­mit that is due to take place in Grana­da, Spain, on 7 March. 

Source:
Coun­cil Of The Euro­pean Union