§ 20. Tony CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with EU counterparts on the political situation in Zimbabwe. [77182]
§ Mr. RammellWe regularly discuss Zimbabwe with our EU partners, at official, ministerial and Heads of Government level. We have worked hard to achieve an EU consensus on policy towards Zimbabwe. This resulted in the EU's Common Position of 18 February, which imposed an EU wide travel ban and an assets freeze on key members of the Mugabe regime. The EU has extended the sanctions twice since February and they now apply to 79 people. We are in regular contact with EU partners to ensure that the sanctions are applied in accordance with the Common Position.
Our dialogue with EU partners on Zimbabwe is on-going. The Minister for Africa, Baroness Amos, is travelling to Maputo in Mozambique this week, for talks between EU Foreign Ministers and Ministers representing the 14 SADC countries.