Fri, March 20, 2009
BRUSSELS, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) said on Thursday that what happened in Madagascar was a coup d'etat and the 27-country bloc will take a prudent approach to this Indian Ocean island.
"This was a coup d'etat, this was not a democratic election," Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said at the end of the first day of an EU summit, referring to the forced resignation of Madagascar's President Marc Ravalomanana on Tuesday.
"So for the moment we shall have to adopt a prudent approach; we shall have to look at the situation carefully and see how things develop. We have the example of Mauritania where there was also a coup d'etat and we did not accept that government," said Schwarzenberg.
Ravalomanana on Tuesday stepped down and handed power to the military, which in turn transferred power to opposition leader Andry Rajoelina, who had led months of protests.
On Zimbabwe, Schwarzenberg said the EU would not immediately lift its sanctions.
"We are looking at the situation closely, we are watching the developments. We shall see whether the distribution of power there works," he said.
"If President (Robert) Mugabe places substantial power in the hands of the democratically-elected ministers, subsequently we will be able to look at the sanctions and decide how to lift them. We can't do it immediately," he noted.
Schwarzenberg said that Mugabe has to prove that he is going to stick to the rules of a power-sharing deal with the opposition. Under the deal, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai became prime minister. Several ministerial portfolios also went to the opposition.
