Brussels, 12 November 2009 Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the situation in Zimbabwe

The European Union is concerned by the arrest on Sunday 8 November of five prominent members of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions , including ZCTU President, Mr Lovemore Matombo, and their continued detention.

This follows a number of other recent cases of harassment and intimidation directed against political activists and members of Zimbabwean civil society. The European Union also finds it most disturbing to learn about the alleged torture in incommunicado detention of MDC member Pascal Gwezere.

The EU calls for the early release of Mr Matombo and his colleagues and for a halt to all state violence and intimidation of members of civil society and political activists in Zimbabwe.

It supports the recent call of regional governments for the speedy implementation of the GPA, following the SADC Organ summit in Maputo. The EU urges the parties to the GPA to find a way forward to resolve their differences.

The Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as the Republic of Moldova and Armenia align themselves with this declaration.

European EC Rapid Press Release PESC/09/126, copyright European Commission.
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