Sisulu urges EU to lift Zim sanctions ahead of March bi-national meeting

Zimbabwe’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Lindiwe Sisulu, has called on the European Union (EU) to give the Zimbabwean government and its people a chance to start afresh.

Sisulu urged the EU to urgently lift sanctions ahead of South Africa’s bi-national meeting with Zimbabwe in March.

The EU imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe in 2000 after former president Robert Mugabe was accused of violating human rights, rigging elections and repressing press freedom.

The sanctions were extended after allegations that President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration deployed soldiers to fire live ammunition at unarmed protesters.