Lord knows I am no fan of British PM Gordon Brown. But he’s earned my respect this week, because he’s told the organisers of an upcoming EU – African Union Summit in Portugal that he may not be showing up. Why? Because the grandees have, in their ineffable wisdom, invited Robert Mugabe – despite the fact that the old tyrant is subject to an EU-wide travel ban that prevents him, in theory, from entering any member state.
Britain will adopt an "empty chair" policy and stay away if, as expected, the Zimbabwean President attends after the EU suspends its ban on him travelling to Europe.
Portugal, which has called the first EU-AU summit for seven years, has invited Mr Mugabe because other African leaders want him to attend. If the invitation were withdrawn, the meeting could collapse as other African nations would almost certainly pull out.
My response to these “other African nations” is fairly simple. Fuck them. Fuck Robert Mugabe, fuck Thabo Mbeki, and fuck all his other cheerleaders in southern Africa. This disgusting man is lionised throughout the continent as one of the last of the great anti-colonialist revolutionaries. Well, Bob and his chums threw off the yoke of white rule a long, long time ago. And now his nation is in tatters, and his people are subjugated and starving, and all as a direct result of his misrule. It’s time to stop pouring Gatorade over each other and get serious. If the AU really has pretensions to become a strong voice for African nations, then it's time for them to step up to the plate. We’ve been waiting long enough.
And shame on the EU, too, for scurrying to appease a murderous dictator for the sake of a photo-op and the saving of face. The travel ban on Mugabe and his pals, and the freezing of their assets in Europe (which are, no doubt, considerable) was the softest option available to the Europeans at the time – but even this limited slap on the wrists is now, apparently, to be waived. What's the point of approving targeted sanctions on the Mugabe regime if you're going to invite the bastard for cocktails?
If the British government are serious about refusing to share a conference hall with this scumbag, and we leave an empty chair at the summit in December, then I for one could even find it in myself to be a wee bit proud of our leaders that day.
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