LONDON (Zimbabwe Investor) - The European Union’s Foreign Ministers will during the month of February consider the block’s relationship with Zimbabwe, British Foreign and Commonwealth Sectretary David Miliband has advised.

Speaking in the House of Commons, David Miliband said the EU and UK welcomed the recent agreement of the GPA signatories to establish key commissions urging the implementation of that agreement. Miliband was responding to a question from Conservative MP for North-West Norfolk, Henry Bellingham.

“Zimbabwe will be considered by EU Foreign Ministers during the course of February, and I look forward to having discussions then. The UK and the EU are strong supporters of the global political agreement—the GPA—and we will continue to press for progress”, Miliband said.

The Foreign and Commonwealth secretary also acknowledged the progress Zimbabwe had made on the economic front stating; “Over the past year, the economic situation has changed in a quite fundamental way.”

Zuma playing skilful hand

Mr Miliband expressed confidence in South African President Jacob Zuma’s mediation efforts.

“President Zuma is playing a careful hand, and he is playing it rather skilfully” he said of Zuma who took over the mediation role from former SA president and predecessor Thabo Mbeki. Mbeki has been criticised in some quarters for his ‘quiet diplomacy’ approach which the critics claimed favoured President Mugabe’s party Zanu PF in the inclusive government.

“The position of the South Africans has certainly been to urge adherence to the global political agreement, which requires compromise on all sides, and I do not think that they have been less than even-handed in the way in which they have done that”

MDC to guide EU on sanctions 

Turning to the contentious issue of sanctions, which has significantly stalled the inter-party negotiations after Zanu PF made it top of its outstanding issues towards full implementation of the GPA, David Miliband said that the sanctions would only be lifted in a calibrated way.

“I do not think that it is right to say that the choice is between lifting all sanctions and lifting none at all”, Miliband said adding “we have to calibrate our response to the progress on the ground, and, above all, to be guided by what the MDC says to us about the conditions under which it is working and leading the country”

Mr Miliband’s statement implicating the MDC as their guide to lifting sanctions is likely going to put pressure on Prime Minister Tsvangirai whose party has maintained that the sanctions were a matter for the EU.

Zimbabwe’s economy has stabilised since the inception of the inclusive government in February of 2009 registering growth in the same year for the first time in 10 years having grappled with hyperinflation and effects of a worthless currency. The rapid economic decline has been blamed in on mismanagement by President Mugabe’s Zanu PF, corruption and the political stand off with the MDC. Zanu PF has however blamed the decline on unwarranted economic sanctions which they say were called on to the country by the MDC.

It is believed that a return to full engagement with the rest of the world will see double digit growth in Zimbabwe making it one of the most important emerging markets